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VINNOVA ANALYSIS
VA 2015:06
Small and beautiful
The ICT success of Finland & Sweden
Eric Giertz, Annika Rickne & Petri Rouvinen
Title: Small and beautiful - The ICT success of Finland & Sweden
Author: Eric Giertz, Annika Rickne & Petri Rouvinen
Jyrki Ali-Yrkkö, Niklas Arvidsson. Anders Broström, Magnus Gens, Fredrik Johansson, Annu Kotiranta, Sven Lindmark,
Monia Lougui, Juri Mattila, Mika Pajarinen, Bryan Pon, Timo Seppälä, Kent Thorén & Pekka Ylä-Anttila
Series: VINNOVA Analysis VA 2015:06
ISBN: 978-91-87537-33-2
ISSN: 1651-355X
Published: October 2015
Publisher: VINNOVA - Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems / Verket för Innovationssystem
VINNOVA - develops Sweden´s innovation capacity for sustainable growth
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Small and beautiful
The ICT success of Finland & Sweden
ERIC GIERTZ, ANNIKA RICKNE AND PETRI ROUVINEN
JYRKI ALI-YRKKÖ, NIKLAS ARVIDSSON, ANDERS BROSTRÖM, MAGNUS GENS,
FREDRIK JOHANSSON, ANNU KOTIRANTA, SVEN LINDMARK, MONIA LOUGUI,
JURI MATTILA, MIKA PAJARINEN, BRYAN PON, TIMO SEPPÄLÄ, KENT THORÉN
AND PEKKA YLÄ-ANTTILA
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Table of contents
Preface _____________________________________________________________________ 7
Executive summary __________________________________________________________ 9
List of contributors _________________________________________________________ 13
1
Finland and Sweden – Small, knowledge intensive nations ____________________ 15
1.1
Beyond the “golden era” in Nordic ICT .................................................................... 15
1.2
New competitive landscape in ICT .......................................................................... 16
1.3
Past, present, and future of Nordic ICT ................................................................... 16
1.4
Finnish and Swedish national innovation systems .................................................. 17
1.5
ICT in national innovation systems .......................................................................... 18
1.6
Nordic ICT at crossroads ......................................................................................... 20
2
Dynamics of the global telecom sector – the telecom equipment supplier industry 21
2.1
Introduction .............................................................................................................. 21
2.2
Point of the departure: The telecom industry in the 1980s ...................................... 22
2.3
Trends affecting the sector ...................................................................................... 25
2.4
Dynamics of telecom equipment suppliers industry (1980s-2015).......................... 27
2.5
Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 36
3
A comparison of the Finnish and the Swedish ICT sector _____________________ 38
3.1
A global view on ICT provision and use .................................................................. 38
3.2
Definition .................................................................................................................. 40
3.3
Industry trends ......................................................................................................... 40
3.4
Industry characteristics in more detail ..................................................................... 43
3.5
Dynamics of the ICT sector since 2008 ................................................................... 45
3.6
Recent global developments in ICT ........................................................................ 47
3.7
Main observations ................................................................................................... 49
4
The historical evolution of the Finnish ICT sector ____________________________ 51
4.1
A rocky ride .............................................................................................................. 51
4.2
Decisive role of regulation and competition ............................................................. 52
4.3
Knowledge complementarities and collaboration .................................................... 53
4.4
Public-private linkages ............................................................................................. 56
4.5
Towards more diverse sectoral structure ................................................................ 57
4.6
A summary of factors behind the Finnish ICT boom ............................................... 58
4.7
The way forward ...................................................................................................... 60
5
Understanding the Swedish saga through an historical exposé ________________ 62
5.1
Introduction .............................................................................................................. 62
5.2
1850-1920 Liberal reforms, industrialization and entrepreneurship ........................ 62
5.3
1920-1970 Consolidation, centralization and corporatism ...................................... 64
5.4
1970-1990 Confrontation, stagnation, crises and a turnaround .............................. 74
5.5
1990-2005 Hunting for economic growth in a global market ................................... 86
3
6
The Finnish ICT sector today _____________________________________________ 96
6.1
ICT companies in Finland ........................................................................................ 96
6.2
Largest ICT firms by subsector.............................................................................. 101
6.3
Remarks ................................................................................................................ 105
7
The Swedish ICT sector today ___________________________________________ 106
7.1
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 106
7.2
Hardware companies within the ICT sector ........................................................... 108
7.3
Software & net services ......................................................................................... 112
7.4
Maintenance & computer operations ..................................................................... 114
7.5
ICT Consultancy Companies ................................................................................. 116
7.6
An extreme concentration to the Stockholm region............................................... 119
8
Nordic gaming ________________________________________________________ 122
8.1
Setting the scene ................................................................................................... 122
8.2
Definition, structure and history of the sector ........................................................ 122
8.3
Nordic Video Games ............................................................................................. 124
8.4
Finnish and Swedish success in mobile gaming apps .......................................... 128
8.5
Concluding remarks ............................................................................................... 129
9
The Swedish game development sector ___________________________________ 131
9.1
The Current Video Game Industry......................................................................... 131
9.2
Sweden’s performance and position ..................................................................... 133
9.3
Drivers of success in the video game industry ...................................................... 135
9.4
Innovation system circumstances that influence KSF ........................................... 138
9.5
Concluding remarks ............................................................................................... 145
Mergers and acquisitions in the coming-to-age phase of the Swedish ICT services
industry ______________________________________________________________ 147
10.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 147
10.2 M&As over the industrial life cycle ......................................................................... 148
10.3 An overview of M&As in the Swedish ICT software and services sector .............. 149
10.4 M&As transform industries – but how? .................................................................. 149
10.5 The tales of two acquisitions ................................................................................. 151
10.6 Post M&A spin-outs in the Swedish ICT-services sector ...................................... 153
10.7 Post M&A executive turnover ................................................................................ 154
10.8 M&As as a vehicle for industrial transformation .................................................... 154
10
11
Swedish entrepreneurial firms and ICT hotspots ___________________________ 156
11.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 156
11.2 The entrepreneurial journey of Yubico .................................................................. 157
11.3 Discussion ............................................................................................................. 159
12
ICT consultancy – Building a foundation for ICT in other sectors ______________ 162
12.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 162
12.2 The R&D related ICT consultancy segment in Sweden ........................................ 163
12.3 Characteristics of the R&D related ICT consultancy industry ............................... 166
12.4 Common denominators in R&D related ICT consultancy firms ............................. 168
4
13
ICT in other sectors ____________________________________________________ 172
13.1 Digitalization in non-ICT sectors ............................................................................ 172
13.2 Recent trends ........................................................................................................ 174
13.3 IT using sectors in Finland..................................................................................... 176
14
ICT related technology shifts in the engineering sector ______________________ 183
14.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 183
14.2 The general development of the engineering sector ............................................. 184
14.3 Cases of ICT driven technology shifts ................................................................... 187
14.4 Explaining the success in handling the technological shifts .................................. 196
15
Emergence of an ICT-based disruptive mobile payment service _______________ 200
15.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 200
15.2 ICT in retail banking in Sweden – The historic development ................................ 201
15.3 Swish – The emergence of a disruptive mobile payment service in Sweden ....... 203
15.4 Launching Swish ................................................................................................... 204
15.5 Swish – a platform based on collaboration and competition ................................. 207
15.6 Summary and conclusions .................................................................................... 207
16
Conclusions & implications _____________________________________________ 209
16.1 Summarizing our findings ...................................................................................... 209
16.2 Discussion ............................................................................................................. 213
References _______________________________________________________________ 218
List of interviews __________________________________________________________ 225
5
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Preface
VINNOVA, the Swedish Innovation Agency, promotes research and innovation for sustainable
growth in Sweden. Investments in research, development and innovation are of paramount
importance for economic growth, job creation and for solving grand societal challenges. This
report is a result of a joint research project by the Royal Institute of Technology and Etlatieto
Oy. This study aims at providing understanding of the mechanisms that has taken Sweden and
Finland to leading positions in ICT and digitalization. Such learning is of key importance in the
continuous improvement of VINNOVA’s strategies and activities.
In both Finland and Sweden, the ICT sector plays a predominant role as a source for economic
growth, as a key employer and as a provider for solutions to societal challenges. This report is
one of the most comprehensive comparisons between the ICT sectors in Sweden and Finland.
The sectors have many similarities but also, as the report highlights, important differences.
In order to generate important policy learning it is essential to understand the role of policy and
different policy mechanisms in relation to historical developments. The systemic, evolutionary
and institutional approach taken in this thorough analysis of the development of ICT sectors in
Finland and Sweden provides an ambitious and promising model for such policy learning
studies. The study contributes substantially to policy learning on how to think around innovation
and development processes, as well as around policy mechanisms. Such policy learning is of
fundamental importance to policy making.
This research project is related to the impact analysis “Similar paths, different approaches”
presented earlier this year. The impact analysis focused on Tekes’ and VINNOVA’s ICT
programs. Many thanks to the research group at Royal Institute of Technology headed by
Professor Eric Giertz and Professor Annika Rickne. Many thanks as well to the team at Etlatieto
Oy, headed by Petri Rouvinen, CEO. A special thanks to all interviewees that have contributed
to the analysis. Thanks also to Tekes, the Finnish innovation agency. Without the support from
Tekes this research project would not have been possible.
VINNOVA in October 2015
Göran Marklund
Deputy Director General
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8
Executive summary
From massive corporations to nimble startups
In year 2000, Nokia and Ericsson – and by extension Finland and Sweden – were riding high.
Nokia’s direct share of Finnish GDP peaked at four per cent and it accounted for over forty per
cent of the ICT sector value added in Finland. At the same time, Ericsson’s share of Swedish
GDP was two per cent and it was directly, without its extensive partnering and sub-contracting,
about thirty per cent of the ICT sector value added in Sweden. Since Sweden is twice the size of
Finland as an economy, moneywise Nokia’s value added in Finland and Ericsson’s value added
in Sweden were the same (to be exact, within 5% of each other in year 2000).
The two Nordic “national champions” loomed large in part because of intense public-private
cooperation in nurturing Nordic NMT mobile telephony standard since the late 1970s and in
particular thanks to the first European and then global GSM standard developed since the late
1980s. Indeed, as far as Finland and Sweden are concerned, the GSM may be considered the
“first disruption”, which provided the two countries a crucial break for entering the global scene
as major providers of ICT.
Since year 2000, Finland and Sweden followed different paths. Global developments within the
ICT sector – in this context in particular the advents of cloud computing, big data, and mobile
internet as well as the convergence of previously distinguishable ICT sub-sectors – amounted to
something that can justly be called the “second disruption”. Due to national idiosyncrasies,
however, the second disruption was initially felt quite differently in Finland and in Sweden.
With Nokia’s lead, and with its increasing concentration to and global dominance in mobile
handsets, the Finnish ICT sector continued to boom until 2008, after which it entered a period of
extensive re-structuring, the most visible parts of which were Nokia’s massive lay-offs.
The end of the new economy boom in the late 1990s was felt more severely in Sweden, on top
of which Ericsson ran into difficulties in the early 2000s. In year 2000, Ericsson had 101,553
employees globally (43,193 in Sweden). It was counting on winning large network equipment
delivery contracts from telecommunications operators worldwide. But as the market tanked,
Ericsson fell into trouble and its operating profit fell deeply into the negative territory in 2001–
2003. In 2001, Ericsson’s mobile handset business was moved into a new Sony-Ericsson entity
– completely subsumed by Sony in 2012 –, which had reasonable success up until the current
smartphone era was initiated with the introduction of Apple’s iPhone in January 2007. By 2004,
Ericsson’s global employment was down to 50,534 employees (21,296 in Sweden); in just four
years, Ericsson’s global and Swedish employment fell to less than half of their previous levels.
In Sweden, the ICT sector outside Ericsson was hit even harder. Via its external networking and
partnering, Ericsson had employed tens of thousands workers in ICT-related development,
consulting, maintenance, and research. In an attempt to return to profitability, Ericsson slashed
this spending. With this multiplicative effect and Ericsson’s own layoffs, a huge volume of
ICT-expertise had to be re-deployed.
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The re-deployment of Swedish ICT labor coincided with important global developments, the
afore-mentioned second disruption. Thanks to Ericsson and also Telia, Sweden had deep
expertise in technologies underlying the second disruption as well as advanced and forwardlooking customers with whom to experiment in providing new solutions. ICT consultancies
sought engineering and other ICT-using companies as their new customers in developing
embedded ICT systems and deploying ICT services. Startup activity was particularly intense in
internet services and software. Early 2000s was a feverish period in Swedish ICT but in
hindsight it can be said that the actors within the sector re-positioned themselves quite
successfully thanks to accumulated expertise, advanced demand, and – despite the burst of the
new economy bubble – still vibrant global market.
As compared to Ericsson, Nokia ran into difficulties much later – in a major way only in 2008.
Within a few years, Nokia’s troubles lead into a re-deployment of ICT expertise in Finland,
which in relative terms was quite comparable to the Swedish turmoil a decade earlier. For
Finland, however, several things were different: the second disruption was now in full bloom
rather than in its infancy, global demand was less vibrant and competition was more intense,
and the bulk of potential domestic customers were not investing into avant-garde ICT services
and solutions.
In this report we analyze the ICT sectors of Sweden and Finland. When doing so we have to
define what we include in the ICT sector. But since ICT are basically impregnating every single
business and industry the delimitation of the ICT sector is by no means obvious. In most parts
of this report we stick to the OECD definition of the ICT sector (see chapter 3.2), which means
that we use a rather narrow definition of the ICT sector when comparing the development in
Finland and Sweden. In chapter 7, which describes the Swedish ICT sector today, we use an
even stricter definition of the ICT sector by excluding sales companies, wholesalers and
retailers. In chapter 12 however we have broadened the definition of ICT consultancy
companies, which means that we have identified twice as many ICT consultants as in chapter 7.
Of course there are also many ICT experts working outside the defined ICT sector – in IT
departments in various industries, in R&D departments, in operations in industries like banking
and media, in universities and research institutes and in various public organizations. This is
also reflected in chapter 13, ICT in other sectors, and in chapters 14 and 15. All this must be
considered when reading the statistics from the ICT sector in itself. Even if for instance the
share of ICT in total goods export is declining very fast in the statistics, the amount of
embedded systems and software in products like cars, trucks and machinery, just to mention a
few, is increasing very fast.
The Swedish ICT sector is more diverse and dynamic
After being on rather different trajectories in the course of the 2000s, today the Finnish and
Swedish ICT sectors are quite similar in relative terms. In both countries, the ICT sector’s is
about 5-6% of GDP and 3-4% of total working hours. These shares are large for a single sector
but, especially in Finland, nothing compared to the sector’s heyday just a few years ago.
Currently, Nokia and Ericsson remain nationally important companies, but not overwhelmingly
so. Nokia accounts for about half a per cent of Finnish GDP and about one-tenth of the sector’s
10
value added in Finland. Ericsson’s corresponding shares in Sweden are comparable, albeit
somewhat smaller. In terms of their corporate structures and market offerings, Nokia and
Ericsson are more similar than ever before, even if considerable differences remain.
Since Sweden is a bigger economy than Finland, its ICT sector is also larger. The sector in
Sweden has about twice as workers as in Finland and nearly six times as many companies.
Nowadays software is the biggest ICT sub-sector in both countries in terms of employment. The
most apparent difference between the two countries relates to ICT consulting, which in Sweden
accounts for over one-fourth and in Finland under one-tenth of overall ICT employment.
Our comparison of the Finnish and Swedish ICT sub-sectors by firm age and size as well as our
analysis of the sector’s “creative destruction” – entries, exits, and differences in growth rates
among continuing businesses – suggests that the Swedish ICT sector is more diverse and more
dynamic than its Finnish counterpart.
Even though its economic importance is still limited, one of the ICT sub-sectors we look at is
electronic gaming – a globally booming industry, in which both Finland and Sweden has a good
foothold. In per capita terms, Finland and Sweden have some of the largest gaming industries
worldwide, although South Korea is the leading national economy in this respect. South Korea
is, however, quite orientated towards its domestic market. According to the metric we employ,
Sweden and Finland have the two most export-oriented gaming industries in the world. If we
concentrate on successful mobile gaming apps, we observe that Finland has somewhat larger
but less diverse footprint than Sweden; the surrounding ecosystem is more vibrant in Sweden
and it is more resilient to any one company’s success or failure.
Discussion
Our analysis of the Finnish and Swedish ICT sectors suggest that history matters. In both
countries we trace some of the original reasons for successes back to the late 1800s, when the
Nordics were already an advanced, large and – by the standards of that time – quite competitive
telecommunications market. ICT developments in Sweden relate to the automotive and
armaments sectors; in Finland, banking and forestry were important early breeding grounds; in
both countries, industrial equipment and machinery were important. These historical links do
not determine future outcomes, but they nevertheless influence national positions in new
domains. The fact that history matters speaks to path dependency, but time and again it has also
been important to break with the past and to re-deploy the accumulated assets in new domains,
which both Finland and Sweden have done quite successfully on several occasions. The
emerging internet of things, the interplay of path dependences and re-deployments of expertise
will open new opportunities and influence commercial outcomes.
The second disruption was more difficult for the Finnish economy. Our analysis has showed
that Sweden has had a form of dynamics and resilience to the necessary change process that
Finland perhaps has not had to the same extent. Now in this disruptive phase this proves crucial.
While the Swedish economy had its period of layoffs in ICT earlier, ICT actors and competence
bases were also more prepared. The many ICT consultants in Ericsson and Telia could move to
other companies and explore related technological opportunities. Their proficiency fit well with
11
the changes in the second disruption, and Swedish innovation processes could move forward
and be matched with the needs of advanced customers. When Nokia had to restructure it became
apparent that the Finnish case was different as the restructuring came at a later stage in the
global cycle, with less demand and more competition.
A final observation about the dynamics in the ICT sectors is the crucial importance of hotspots
as environments conducive for innovation and growth. Both countries are ranked high among
the global leaders and seen as good innovation milieus. The question is how to further develop
the countries – and the city hotspots within them – to not only retain but to strengthen their
global competitiveness. A multitude and variety of actors need to be present, and competence in
general and specialized areas, and both countries are well endowed.
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List of contributors
Editors
This book is edited by Eric Giertz, Annika Rickne and Petri Rouvinen.
Eric Giertz is Professor in Industrial Economics and Management at KTH. He is specialized in
Business Development linked to structural changes in industry. For more than 20 years Giertz
worked as a strategy consultant in the field of business development. His clients included
companies in manufacturing and service industries as well as ministries and authorities. He has
experience as member of executive boards in companies in various industries and as chairman
and part owner of successful new ventures. In 2000 Giertz started up KTH Executive School,
has been Vice President for Business & Community Liaison at KTH and Dean of KTH Business
Development.
Annika Rickne is Professor of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Industrial Dynamics at the
Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm. She analyses issues of entrepreneurship and
innovation at various levels – within technology-based organizations, at the sectorial level, and
within innovation systems – and draws conclusions for strategy as well as for policy. Her
interest is economic growth initiated by new scientific or technological knowledge, creating
opportunities that reshape existing knowledge fields and industries or gives rise to the evolution
of new ones. This involves issues of public policies as well as firm and university strategies and
behavior, of commercialization in the form of new firms or the diversification of established
ones, and of the role of globalization versus regional arenas.
Petri Rouvinen is a research director at ETLA, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy,
and CEO of ETLA’s subsidiary Etlatieto Oy. He earned his PhD in Economics from the
Vanderbilt University (USA) in 2000. In 2004–5 he was a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European
University Institute (Italy) and in 2010–11 a visiting scholar at IIASA, International Institute for
Applied Systems Analysis (Austria). His professional interests include digitalization, entrepreneurship, globalization, and innovation. He has served as an expert in the projects of the EU,
OECD, UNU/WIDER, and the World Bank. He represents Finland in the global competitiveness programs of IMD and the World Economic Forum.
Contributors
Jyrki Ali-Yrkkö is a research director at ETLA, and Deputy CEO of ETLA’s subsidiary
Etlatieto Oy. His digitalization-related scholarly work has generated considerable popular
interest.
Niklas Arvidsson is Associate Professor in Industrial Dynamics at KTH and Head of the
Department Sustainability and Industrial Dynamics. His research area is innovation and learning
within organizations and systems with a particular focus on the area of payments.
13
Anders Broström is associate professor at KTH. Central themes of his research are the use of
and investment in knowledge by private firms, public agencies, individual scientists and
societies/economies at large, as well as socially mediated impulses to entrepreneurship.
Magnus Gens is an industrial Ph.D. candidate at KTH studying how the ICT consultancy
industry works and interacts with customers in mainly the Swedish engineering industry. He has
worked as a professional consultant and manager for 15 years.
Fredrik Johansson wrote his Master’s thesis on how mergers and acquisitions of Swedish ICTfirms affect businesses development and local industrial environment in Sweden.
Annu Kotiranta is a researcher at ETLA and her professional interests include innovation and
innovation systems and entrepreneurship at its different forms. She holds a MSc in economics
from the University of Helsinki.
Sven Lindmark has been a senior researcher at iMinds-SMIT, Brussels. With 20 years of
experience he specializes in analyzing innovation and industrial dynamics, with a focus on ICT,
Internet, media and content industries, and the sectors’ business models, value networks and
their socio-economic impact.
Monia Lougui is Ph.D. student at KTH. Her research connects industrial organization with
entrepreneurship by focusing on the mobility of employees in the context of mergers and
acquisitions.
Juri Mattila is a researcher at ETLA, and his professional interests include multi-disciplinary
research on disruptive digital ecosystems and the platform economy.
Mika Pajarinen is a researcher at ETLA, and he is interested in issues related to corporate
finance, digitalization, entrepreneurship, globalization, and innovative activity.
Bryan Pon, earned his Ph.D. from University of California, Davis, with a research focus on the
mobile industry and is currently a research director at Caribou Digital.
Timo Seppälä is a post-doctoral researcher at Aalto University and a senior research associate
at ETLA. Seppälä’s areas of expertise include global value chain analysis and the impact of
digitalization on management and policy.
Kent Thorén is a KTH affiliated researcher and his research areas cover entrepreneurship,
strategy and innovation, with a focus on fast changing sectors with a digital technology base,
like telecom, ICT and video games.
Pekka Ylä-Anttila is an industrial economist and an author of scientific and professional books
and articles on technological change, future of industries, digitalization, foreign direct
investment, and globalization. He has served as an industrial policy adviser for the Finnish
government and international organizations.
14
1
Finland and Sweden – Small,
knowledge intensive nations
Eric Giertz, Annika Rickne, Petri Rouvinen, and Pekka Ylä-Anttila
In this chapter, we set the scene for comparing ICT provision and use in Finland and in
Sweden. We observe many similarities but also considerable, and somewhat surprising,
differences between the two countries. The Nordic countries have a great legacy both as
leading ICT providers and as the world’s foremost knowledge economies. While Finland
and Sweden has been changed on both fronts, there are good reasons to believe that the
Nordic success in ICT will continue in the future.
1.1
Beyond the “golden era” in Nordic ICT
In year 2000, two Nordic companies, Ericsson and Nokia, commanded together some forty per
cent of the global mobile phone market, and were arguably even more dominant when it came
to innovation in mobile telephony. Today, Ericsson and Nokia provide half of the world’s
wireless telecom infrastructure, and roughly the corresponding share of related innovations. And
mobile telephony is just the tip of the Nordic Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) iceberg. Both Finland and Sweden have strong ICT clusters and Nordic ICT success
stories range from Linux to Spotify.
Any reasonable economic historian would say that having such a concentration of ICT in
Finland and in Sweden is implausible. It is indeed rare in industrial history that global leaders in
a major industry are hosted by small economies. Yet, it has happened in this case and there is
every reason to believe that the two countries can continue to excel in the future.
In this report, we study how the Nordic success in ICT came about and what is the current status
of the Finnish and Swedish ICT sectors. The report builds on earlier work at ETLA, Finland,
and KTH, Sweden, which has been extended in this report with the kind support of VINNOVA.
Key questions for this report include the following:
• How have Nordic companies and industries adapted to the new competitive landscape and
value capture logics?
• What kind of lessons can be learned from “golden era” of the Nordic ICT sector?
• Was the performance of the Nordic countries simply a result of exceptional and temporary
advantages, bound to disappear over time?
•
Or is there still something left of the small country advantage that seemed to make the
Nordics so conducive to innovation in the early phase of ICT development?
Having a better sense of the answers to the above questions helps Nordic business and
policymakers to make for informed decisions as regard to the future.
15
1.2
New competitive landscape in ICT
In the turn of the millennium, both Finland and Sweden were to be found on top of virtually all
international comparisons ranging from competitiveness to human development, which
reflected the two countries’ stellar economic and social performance at that time. The Nordic
socio-economic model combined industrial dynamics and innovation with social cohesion.
Finland and Sweden were seen as globally leading knowledge economies with clear strengths in
both providing and using ICT. 1
In recent years, particularly Finland’s economic performance has deteriorated – in considerable
part due developments within ICT. In the past decade, there have been rather dramatic changes
in the global ICT landscape and the Nordic countries are no longer seen as global hotspots
nurturing new trends in ICT.
Convergence of previously separate industries – telecommunications, information technology,
consumer electronics, and digital content provision – is approaching its completion. Boundaries
between hardware, software, and services are fading away.
ICT-enabled services have taken the lead in the digital revolution and are becoming an
integrated part of practically all industries, intelligence of industrial products is increasing, and
traditional private and public services are being digitalized to a growing degree. As a
consequence, the importance of ICT manufacturing, the backbone of Finland’s and Sweden’s
ICT sectors, has diminished.
Developing digital platforms and the related ecosystems has become the core competitive edge
of many businesses – also outside the ICT sector. Creating digital platforms is seen as an
important means of escaping the “commodity trap” – decreasing relative prices and increased
competition from low-cost producers. 2
1.3
Past, present, and future of Nordic ICT
The core features of the Nordic socio-economic model – developed infrastructure, high
educational level, social cohesion, ease of communication – partly explain Nordic success in
ICT. There are also a number of historical and political factors that played a role.
In industrial policy, both Finland and Sweden were among early adopters of a systems
approach, which was a useful vantage point in advancing ICT featuring relatively strong
network effects and having several domains of application. Both Finnish and Swedish ICT
business emerge from a long and fruitful history of public-private interaction.
The single most important landmark in a long history of public action was the Nordisk Mobil
Telefon (NMT) standard in the 1970s, which started to provide analog mobile telephony
services in the 1980s. NMT was a highly valuable outcome of the traditional cooperation of
Nordic telecommunications administrators and industry. It aimed at creating a Nordic market
for mobile telephony. The standard development project was open to third-country suppliers,
1
2
See, for example: Castells and Himanen (2002), Dahlman et al. (2006), Ornston, D. (2012).
Zysman and Kenney (2014).
16
which promoted competition in network equipment and handsets markets. In the 1980s, the
Nordic countries formed the largest mobile communication market worldwide in terms of the
number of subscribers. NMT served as a model in establishing Groupe Spécial Mobile (GSM)
in 1988, which was a European-wide effort to establish a digital mobile telephony standard,
which later became globally dominant. Both NMT and GSM played central roles in Finnish and
Swedish ICT sagas.
Another important public policy aspect concerns telecom operators. Both Finland and Sweden
had maintained aspects of competition among operators through history. The two countries were
also several years “ahead of the curve” in worldwide telecommunication liberalization of the
1990s, which gave local operators and equipment providers time to adapt to the emerging new
business environment. Global liberalization contributed to booming ICT demand.
By the turn of the millennium, Finland had become the most ICT specialized country in the
world and Sweden was not far behind. The Swedish ICT sector ran into difficulties in early
2000s; at that point, the Finnish ICT sector was still quite strong. In 2008 Nokia, and the
Finnish ICT sector more broadly, was caught by the worsening financial crisis, by global
developments with the ICT sector, and also by internal mismanagement.
In the course of the still lingering financial crisis, the ICT industry developments in Finland and
in Sweden have been quite different. In short, Sweden has fared better and its competences
appear to be better aligned with future needs, whereas Finland is struggles in shaking old
legacies and in finding new directions, even though necessary elements of future success are in
place.
1.4
Finnish and Swedish national innovation systems
The ICT sector is knowledge-intensive in itself and what it provides is central to knowledge
creation and exploitation in other sectors. In order to characterize Finnish and Swedish
similarities and differences when it comes to knowledge, here we will briefly discuss some
aspects of the two countries’ national innovation systems.
Figure 1.1 provides a set of indicators the OECD commonly uses to benchmark national
innovation systems. The indicators are normalized between 0 (the worst performance) and 200
(the best performance); one hundred corresponds to the median value among OECD countries.
As can be seen in Figure 1.1, both Finland and Sweden are typically far from the center, which
suggests that in most dimensions their innovation systems compare favorably to the other
OECD countries and that the systems are in reasonably good balance. Furthermore, the lines of
the two countries tend to overlap, which suggests that they share relative strengths and
weaknesses. Both Finland and Sweden are prominent in public R&D expenditure and in larger
corporations R&D investment. Also the penetration of wireless mobile telephony is a shared
strength. International co-invention is in fact the only indicator in which the two countries dip
below the OECD median, which thus constitutes Finland’s and Sweden’s clearest shared
weakness in this comparison.
17
Figure 1.1: Finland and Sweden in light of the OECD innovation system indicators
Competences and capacity to innovate
Public R&D
expenditure
Ease of
entrepreneurship
Finland
Young patenting
firms
200
150
100
Sweden
50
0
Top 500
universities
Interactions and skills for innovation
ICT investment
200
PhD graduate
Fixed broadband
rate in science…
subs.
150
Top 15 year-olds
Wireless
100
broadband
in science
Top journal
public. Adults' tech
problem solving
50
R&D exp. of Adult tertiary
businesses
education
Venture capital
Tertiary
education exp.
Int'l co-invention
Top 500 corp.
R&D investors
Trademarks
Triadic patent
families
e-gov't
Sweden0
Finland
Public R&D, ind.
financed
Patents by univ.
and public labs
Int'l co-authorship
Source: OECD Science, Technology and Industry Outlook 2014.
Besides many similarities between Finland and Sweden, some differences can be observed in
Figure 1.1. Finland excels in 15 year-olds’ science performance, in university and public lab
patenting, and in industry financed public R&D. Sweden excels in ICT investment intensity,
doctoral graduate rate in science and engineering, and in having a relative abundance of young
patenting firms.
Besides considering the above-discussed indicators, the OECD Science, Technology and
Industry Outlook summarizes aspects of national innovation policies along some basic
dimensions (note: not shown in Figure 1.1):
•
In universities versus public research institutes, both Finland and Sweden favor universities,
although Sweden considerably more so.
•
In terms of civil- versus defense-orientated research, Sweden has reduced its defenseorientated research in 2007–2012 to the extent that Finland and Sweden are now quite
similar and clearly civil-orientated.
•
Sweden has more generic and Finland more thematic research agenda, although the Finnish
agenda is still quite close to the OECD median in the generic versus thematic dimension.
1.5
ICT in national innovation systems
As seen already in the indicator set above, ICT investment intensity is among strengths of the
Swedish innovation system. Figure 1.2 provides further details of ICT investment dynamics
across the OECD countries. As can be seen, Sweden is, and has been, quite dominant in this
respect. It is quite striking that Finland is almost at the other end of the spectrum. Thus, whereas
Sweden has consistently made sizable economy-wide investments in ICT, Finland has not.
18
Figure 1.2: ICT investment as a percentage of GDP by country in 2007 (left) and in 2013 (right)
Sweden
Switzerland
Japan
Czech Rep.
Czech Rep.
Japan
Switzerland
Sweden
USA
USA
Australia
France
Netherlands
Austria
OECD
Denmark
France
Netherlands
Austria
Estonia
Denmark
OECD
Canada
Belgium
Belgium
Australia
Slovenia
Canada
Korea
Korea
Portugal
UK
UK
Portugal
Estonia
Spain
Germany
Italy
Italy
Slovenia
Finland
Germany
Greece
Finland
Spain
Ireland
2007
Ireland
0,0
1,0
2,0
3,0
2013
Greece
4,0
0,0
1,0
2,0
3,0
4,0
5,0
Source: OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2015.
This is even more striking in light of Figure 1.3, which shows the share of ICT specialists across
the economy. Finland has the highest economy-wide human expertise in ICT, with a considerable margin to Sweden that takes the second place.
Figure 1.3: Employment of ICT specialists across the economy, as a share of total employment
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
19
Turkey
Latvia
Greece
Poland
Slovak R.
Italy
Spain
France
Portugal
Hungary
Austria
Slovenia
Czech R.
Norway
Source: OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2015.
Germany
Australia
Estonia
Belgium
USA
Denmark
Iceland
Netherl.
Ireland
UK
Canada
Switzerl.
Luxemb.
Finland
Sweden
0
The high share of ICT specialists in Finland partly relates to Finland’s R&D intensity in general
and in ICT in particular. Figure 1.4 shows that – along with Israel, South Korea, and Taiwan –
Finland and Sweden have the highest business enterprise R&D (BERD) intensities in the world.
The share of ICT in overall BERD is the third highest in Finland (51%) after Taiwan (74%) and
South Korea (54%).
Figure 1.4: ICT and non-ICT Business enterprise R&D as a percentage of GDP in 2013
Darker color: Rest of BERD (non-ICT)
Lighter color: ICT BERD
3,5
3
2,5
2
1,5
1
0,5
Israel
Korea
Japan
Finland
Taiwan
Sweden
Switzerl.
Denmark
Germany
Slovenia
USA
Austria
China
Belgium
France
Singapore
Iceland
Estonia
Australia
Netherl.
Ireland
UK
Czech R.
Norway
Hungary
Canada
Italy
Portugal
Spain
N. Zealand
Turkey
Slovak R.
Poland
Greece
Romania
Mexico
0
Source: OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2015.
1.6
Nordic ICT at crossroads
In the postwar era, Finland and Sweden have simultaneously achieved good economic
performance and social cohesion, which in considerable part can be attributed to developments
within ICT.
In general terms, Finland and Sweden have many similarities. In ICT, often the developments in
the two countries have been linked directly. The Nordic countries’ influence in global ICT
developments arguably peaked in early 2000s, after which the two countries have been in
somewhat different trajectories.
Sweden had difficulties earlier but had fared quite well more recently despite the financial crisis
and turmoil within ICT. Finland was riding high until 2008 but has since been caught by both
the financial crisis and disruptions within ICT.
These developments set an interesting scene for our report. Finland and Sweden are at
crossroads. Both countries have great legacies in ICT and abundance of accumulate human
capital and other strengths. In the past, the two countries have succeeded in part because of their
abilities to coordinate efforts at various levels.
In recent years, the scope of global ICT industries have expanded and at least the relative roles
of Finland and Sweden have shrunk. Despite the ongoing struggles, the future nevertheless
holds a lot of promise.
20
2
Dynamics of the global telecom
sector – the telecom equipment
supplier industry
Sven Lindmark
In this chapter the development of the Swedish and Finnish telecom sector is placed into a
global context. Starting the discussion with the situation in the telecom industry in the
1980s the chapter traces transformations of the global telecom equipment supplier
industry from nationally oriented markets to the globally competitive industry of today. A
number of pervasive trends and major events have affected the sector: (1) growth of
markets in particular mobile and datacom (Internet), (2) technological progress, (3)
digitalization, and the resulting (4) convergence, (5) the changing role of standardization,
(6) the changing R&D regime, (7) liberalization, and the resulting (8) changing industrial
structure. Very few of the leading players of the 1980s remains as independent entities
(Ericsson being the major exception); many have disappeared, gone bankrupt, merged or
been acquired (e.g. ITT, Nortel, Alcatel-Lucent, Siemens) while new ones have risen to
become major players following the growth of mobile, datacom and globalization (e.g.
Nokia, Cisco and Huawei).
2.1
Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to contextualize the development of the Swedish and Finnish
telecom sectors, by giving an account the transformation of the global telecom equipment
supplier industry; from nationally oriented markets of the 1980s to the globally competitive
industry of today (2015).
The chapter is structured as follows. Section 2 describes the establishment and structure of what
we here call the “PTT regime”, centered around national monopolies that provided telephony –
system that had been in place for decades and that persisted, more or less, until the late 1980s. A
number of pervasive trends and major events have affected the sectors since then. These are
briefly described in Section 3. Against the backdrop of these trends and events, Section 4
accounts for the dynamics of the telecom supplier industry and the fates of its leading
equipment suppliers. Focus is placed on infrastructure suppliers, but the terminal (handset)
industry is also touched upon where relevant. Section 5 concludes the chapter.
21
2.2
Point of the departure: The telecom industry in the 1980s 3
The structure of the telecom sector of the 1980s, here labeled the PTT regime, was established
already early in the 20th century. This regime was characterized by national monopolies that
provided telephony services (often in addition to postal and telegraphy service – hence PTT:
Postal, Telegraph and Telephone) accompanied by primarily domestic suppliers. This system
had it roots in how national telegraphy and postal services were organized in many countries,
where the national postal providers eventually also obtained the rights to provide national
telegraphy and later telephony, as well.4
Following Bell’s invention of the telephone, in many countries, telephone services were initially
provided by a number of competing operators (e.g. local Bell companies, private investors or
telegraph companies), initially providing local, often incompatible, services. In most countries
local competition eventually transformed into government-controlled national monopolies. One
important exception was the Bell system in the US5, which emerged as a de facto privately
controlled monopoly consisting of local operating subsidiaries and a long-distance company –
American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T).
In the 1980s the PTT regime was still firmly in place in most countries, although there had been
some tendencies of liberalization in a few places, notably in the US. Most PTTs were usually
state-owned, but acting as fairly independent entities. Some of the PTTs were vertically
integrated, i.e. they were engaged also in manufacturing (Table 2.1). 6
Alongside the PTTs, a telecom equipment supplier industry co-emerged and co-evolved. During
the first decades these suppliers could operate on a relatively small scale. As networks became
increasingly automated, complex and resource consuming to develop, only larger companies
could bear the costs of R&D, and the supplier industry became increasingly concentrated.
There were two main categories of manufacturers during the PTT era: (1) national champions
and (2) internationally oriented ones. The national champions received large parts of national
procurements and were also dependent on domestic sales. Examples include: Siemens in
Germany; NTT’s (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation) family of domestic suppliers
in Japan (primarily NEC – Nippon Electric Company, Fujitsu, Hitachi and Oki); Alcatel/CGE
(Compagnie Générale d'Electricité,) and Thomson in France; Italtel and Telettra in Italy; GEC
(General Electric Company) and Plessey in the UK.
Internationally oriented ones were largely independent of their home markets, had development
and production facilities in foreign countries, thus presenting themselves as a local rather than
international company, often in countries that did not have any indigenous supply industry. The
prime examples were ITT (International Telephone & Telegraph), Ericsson and to some extent
GTE (General Telephone & Electric) 7 To illustrate the level of internationalization among some
3
This section draws heavily on Lindmark et al. (2004) (sections 3.2-3.3, pp. 38-51) unless otherwise stated.
See e.g. Bekkers (2001: 16-20) and Noam (1993:3-22).
5 Finland was another exception.
6 Lindmark et al (2004:46-47)
7 See Lindmark et al. (2004:47)
4
22
suppliers: In 1987, Ericsson generated 91% of their (switching) revenues from outside their
domestic market, Northern Telecom 67%, Alcatel 30%, AT&T/Western Electric 10% and
Italtel 5%. 8
As mentioned above, when networks grew increasingly complex, equipment R&D (especially in
switching) grew increasingly costly. Consequently, the equipment supplier market became more
dependent on scale, leading to a shakeout and internationalization. In the 1980s there was some
15 large equipment suppliers remaining, possessing the necessary technological competence and
production facilities to stay in the market. 9
Table 2.1: Equipment market in selected markets in the 1980s [1984]
Country
Equipment supplier market
Two major suppliers: Siemens and Standard Elektrik Lorenz (SEL, an ITT company). The
PTT, DPBT (Deutche Bundespost Telekom), procured according standard designs and fixed
West Germany quotas.
France
UK
The PTT system of procurement was strengthened during the 1970s and 1980s (see also
below). Initially ITT and Ericsson subsidiaries were major suppliers. DGT (the PTT) had a
policy of using multiple suppliers selected through bidding procedures. In practice, certain
market shares were reserved for domestic suppliers. Two domestic suppliers, Alcatel/CGE
and Thomson, were strengthened when ITT and Ericsson were forced to sell their French
subsidiaries to Thompson. In the early 1980s, these firms were nationalized, and merged
their telecommunications activities into Alcatel/CGE. The state-owned company bought the
remaining part of ITT and became the second largest telecom supplier in the world.
Meanwhile, Ericsson had bought the relatively small CGCT company.
US
Three major British firms (GEC, STC [an ITT subsidiary] and Plessey) were strongly favored.
Very closed and partly vertically integrated market, through joint ownership of SIP (the PTT)
and Italtel (supplier), which controlled about 40% of the market and had almost no exports.
Telettra also had large market share.
Telefónica (PTT) was partly vertically integrated. It held interests in most Spanish
manufacturers who in turn had a 90% share of the market.
Partly vertically integrated. Televerket satisfied most of its equipment needs either through its
manufacturing arm TELI or Ericsson. Less than 10-20% of orders went to international
suppliers.
Vertical integration. AT&T procured from its manufacturing arm Western Electric. GTE also
procured internally.
Japan
A system of “controlled competition” (see Fransman, 1995). Telecommunications
equipment was developed jointly by NTT and a closed group of suppliers (NEC, Fujitsu,
Hitachi and Oki). The structure was competitive in the sense that NTT punished and
rewarded performance of the suppliers, by increasing and decreasing their market shares.
Italy
Spain
Sweden
Sources: Lindmark et al (2004:49) compiled from Bekkers (2001:54) in turn based on Eward (1994:162-63, 116,
183), Meurling and Jeans (1994:122-124) and Noam (1992:83,181,207,255); and Fransman (1995)
Market concentration was typically high in each country – the four largest suppliers in a country
typically held more than 90% of the market. As a rule, the PTTs purchased equipment from
8
9
OECD (1991:23)
Lindmark et al. (2004:47)
23
national supplier, and sometimes subsidized its R&D. 10 Cartels were common and the
procurement practices of the PTTS further favored the local industries (long-term commitments,
preferential standard-setting and certification policies gave the PTTs the power to determine
which suppliers could participate in the lucrative national telecom market. 11
The locus of innovation in the PTT regime was in the R&D labs of the PTTs. 12 Although some
R&D (with an emphasis on D) was performed by the manufacturers, their R&D expenses was to
a large extent financed by the PTTs, sometimes directly paid for by the PTT or the government,
sometimes subsidized through artificially high prices that allowed manufacturers to recoup
R&D investments and dump prices on the international market. Thus, the R&D financing
functioned in effect as subsidy for the export activities of the national champions. 13
In addition to owning and controlling the PTTs, governments had other policy roles to play.
These were actions aimed at either strengthening certain actors or limiting their powers, the
latter being of particular importance in the US. As mentioned, through the PTTs, governments
often favored national suppliers or foreign suppliers with domestic manufacturing facilities or
collaboration with domestic firms. Governments supported their exports by granting export
credits and (as mentioned) also supported R&D in the national industries. Compensation orders
were also important, or if large foreign orders were placed, governments often made sure that
components were supplied by the national industries to the highest degree possible. 14
On a supra-national level, the European Community/Union (EC/EU) started to play an
increasingly important role for telecommunications in the 1980s (e.g. through supporting R&D,
regulation, standardization). International standardization was mainly handled by ITU and
CEPT. Telecommunications related policies were also influenced by the work conducted in the
OECD. Telecom issues also spilled over to GATT. In general, it could be said that the international governance regime mostly dealt with some global commons such as frequency
spectrum and satellite orbits, and the technical standardization required for providing universal
service. The PTT system functioned instead much like an international cartel, leading to for
instances a substantial over-pricing of international calls.15 16
10
Noam (1992:24)
Lindmark et al. (2004:48), based on Noam (1992:319)
12 Fransman 2003
13 Lindmark et al. (2004:49-50) referring to Bekkers (2001:66-70)
14 Ibid.
15 See Lindmark et al. (2004:50-51)
16 It could also be worthwhile mentioning that in the 1980s, Sweden stands out as an advanced market, for instance in
terms of main line penetration that was almost doubled the average penetration of OECD countries (63 % vs. 33%).
The Swedish telecom equipment exports (1980-87) were also very high trailing only those of Japan and Germany.
This can be confirmed by telecommunications equipment exports specialisation indices, such as those calculated by
the OECD (1991:33). According to those, in 1985 Sweden stood out with an index of 429% followed by a by far
distanced Japan at 164%. Other countries above 100% included Canada and Finland (the latter country rapidly rising
from only 38% in 1978 to 200% in 1987, a fact which suggests that these period was important for Finland becoming
a major player in this industry).
11
24
2.3
Trends affecting the sector
From the 1980s, a number of interrelated pervasive trends affected the sector. 17
•
Market growth: Telecommunications has grown faster than the economy as a whole
throughout most of the investigated time period (i.e. until 2003-2004), providing ample
growth opportunities for the equipment suppliers. Meanwhile the character of demand has
changed. Plain Old Telephony Services (POTS) matured started to decline (in terms of
revenues and number of users). Instead there were two pervasive growth trends in
telecommunications: (1) increasing mobility enabled by cellular radio communications and
(2) the increasing share of Internet based data communications induced by developments in
computing, creating two new growth markets. The combination of those two growing
segments into mobile Internet is a third growth area.
•
Technological change in telecommunications has been dramatic throughout the time period,
with rapidly increasing functionality, performance improvements and cost reductions,
opening up markets for new services and products. Equipment has become increasingly
complex and software accounted for an ever-increasing share of value and R&D. 18. 19
In particular, digitalization has played an important role for the transformation of the
telecommunications industry. Digitization started in the core of the networks (interoffice
transmission links, digital switches) in the 1960s to expand towards the periphery
(terminals) in a stepwise manner, at an accelerating rate in the 1980s and early 1990s. The
initial driving force was to improve performance and efficiency of networks. More
importantly, digitalization provides a platform for introducing computer software
capabilities into the network, generating new types of services.
As a result digitalization has driven a process of convergence of telecommunications,
computing and other information industries. Now the effects cannot only be seen in the ICT
sector itself, but the whole information economy (including media and content industries), a
range of other industries (manufacturing, transportation, utilities, tourism to mention a few),
and also the public sector and day-to-day life, in fact most parts of the modern economy.
Possibilities have opened up for a wide range of new services, technologies, allowing new
actors to enter in new layers of increasingly complex and interdependent value chains.
Recently, new entrants (e.g. Skype, WhatsApp) have started to provide communication
services over-the-top (OTT), competing with the core business of operators (telephony and
messaging).
The importance and complexity of standardization processes have increased since the
1980s, while its character and locus changed. Ex-post standardization has given way for
anticipatory standardization. The processes of liberalization and internationalization in the
sector have made standards more international and open, while at the same time competing
standards have clashed on the market. Rapid technological change and convergence
necessitated formal standardization bodies to become more and more complemented with
more flexible ad-hoc consortia.
•
•
•
•
The R&D and innovation regimes have also changed greatly since the 1980s. The R&D
intensity has increased (at least until the 2000 crisis), spurred by higher incentives to
innovate and new generations of technology being more costly to develop. Gradually
17
These trends draw on and updates the trends identified in Lindmark et al. (2004:52-90), which covers the time period
1970-2003
18 Ericsson and Telia (1997)
19 Olsson (2000:5)
25
•
•
•
equipment suppliers became more capable of R&D that they could leverage to a larger
customer base because of liberalization. The character of R&D further changed with the
emergence of the Internet regime, creating new layers of actors with lower barriers to entry
and to innovation, open standards, higher incentives to innovate 20 and presumably more
emphasis on services innovation and innovation in start-ups. Patents became, during the
1980s and 1990s, more of a competitive tool than before. 21 Meanwhile, governments have
been spending more on targeted research programs, instead of financing R&D through the
PTTs.
One of the most important changes in the telecommunication sector in recent decades was
the break-up of the PTT system and introduction of competition, i.e. the processes of
deregulation and liberalization. The transition of the PTT regime started in the 1960s in the
US domestic market, where AT&T’s monopoly was challenged by MCI. In 1984 AT&T
was broken up into a long-distance operator and seven regional operating companies. Early
deregulation followed in Japan and the UK in the early and mid-1980s, while continental
Europe followed a cautious path to reform, mainly pushed by the European Commission,
the introduction of GSM being a major opportunity to start the process. The process went
into full swing in the 1990s. By the early 2000, most high-income countries were more or
less deregulated. Having liberalized the market, the governments had to redesign regulatory
frameworks in order to sustain and stimulate competition, lower barriers to entry and hinder
dominant operators from abusing their market power. A number of complementary reforms
(e.g. interconnection, carrier pre-selection, number portability) were introduced since then
for these purposes. More recently, the establishment of a pervasive and almost ubiquitous
Internet has generated a range new pressing regulatory issues to solve include, including net
neutrality, regulation of OTT providers, privacy and security issues, adapting frameworks to
online goods, adaptations of copyright frameworks, regulation of platforms and new
intermediaries and combatting illegal content 22.
Coinciding with the digitalization of the telephone network and deregulation, the telecom
operators’ market structure started to break up in the 1980s. Telecom operators encountered
competition on their home markets and began to internationalize, especially in mobile
telephony. Large numbers of new entries, mergers and acquisitions have taken place since
then. This process accelerated in the 1990s, when the market was further fragmented
following the diffusion of the Internet. The equipment supplier naturally co-evolved with
the operators market, and is investigated further below. There was also a trend towards
operators outsourcing increasingly the services related to the operations of their networks,
and corresponding increase in the increase of the share of services as part of the revenues of
the leading equipment suppliers.
The evolution of telecom sector should also be seen in the face of two major crisis events:
the Internet bubble in the late 1990s and its burst in 2000, and the financial crisis around
2009. The burst of the Internet bubble was very specific to the ICT sector, in particular
telecoms and web services, and is further described and analyzed below, while the financial
crisis and its aftermath (Eurozone crisis, etc.) was economy wide in scope. Both affected the
telecom equipment supply industry and were followed by waves of consolidation.
Finally, it should be mentioned that these trends are by no means exhaustive. For instance, the
industry can be characterized by increasing platformization where thriving ecosystems of
internal and external complementary innovations and innovators evolve around a few platforms
20
See e.g. Fransman 2003, 2014),
See Granstrand (1999); Bekkers (2001) and Lindmark (2002)
22 See e.g. European Commission (2015)
21
26
and platform leaders notably IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, NTT DoCoMo and later Apple,
Amazon, Google and Facebook. For the purposes of this chapter, the above trends should
suffice to contextualize and situate the changing telecom equipment supplier industry structure.
2.4
Dynamics of telecom equipment suppliers industry
(1980s-2015)
This section will analyze the dynamics of the telecom supplier industry. The starting point is the
major players of 1980 remained as a major independent player – Ericsson.25 Many have
disappeared (e.g. ITT and Nortel), some entered but did not manage to survive as independent
significant players (e.g. Motorola), while others merged or were acquired (Alcatel-Lucent,
Siemens) and some new entrants have risen to global leadership (e.g. Huawei from China and
Cisco from the US). In the following we try to distil some of the key dynamics in this process as
well as give short accounts of what happened to some of the companies involved. 26
Table 2.2: Ranking of infrastructure suppliers (in terms of revenues)
Size / Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
1980
n.a.
Lucent (AT&T)
ITT
Siemens
Ericsson
GTE
Nortel
NEC
Thomson
Philips
Alcatel
GEC
Plessey
Italtel
Fujitsu
Hitachi
1990
n.a.
Lucent (AT&T)
Alcatel
Siemens
NEC
Nortel
Ericsson
Bosch
Motorola
Fujitsu
GPT
Philips
Italtel
Ascom
Nokia
Matra
GTE (?)
2000
n.a.
Lucent
Nortel
Ericsson
Nokia
Alcatel
Motorola
Siemens
Cisco
NEC
Marconi
Fujitsu
Hughes
IBM
Samsung
PTIC (China)
Matsushita
2006
Ca €100 Bn
Cisco
Ericsson
Alcatel-Lucent
Nokia Siemens
Nortel
NEC
Motorola
Huawei
Avaya
Siemens Enterpr.
Fujitsu
ZTE
Juniper
2013
Ca €150 Bn
Datacom:
1. Cisco
2. Huawei
3. Alcatel-Lucent
4. Juniper
5. ZTE
6. n.a.
Mobile:
1. Ericsson
2. Nokia Siemens
3. Huawei
4. Alcatel-Lucent
5. ZTE (?)
Sources: Adapted from Bekkers (2001:48), OECD (1993:33) and IDATE (2003), IBM (2007) and for 2013 data from
infogenics. Note that, the diversity of sources limits the possibilities to compare between the years.
Digital switches and a first wave of consolidation
A first shift took place in the 1980s following the introduction of digital (electronic stored
program control) switches, which were both costly and time-consuming to develop, while at
same time necessary to stay competitive. Only a handful of companies were successful in
23
Although the Japanese companies (NEC, Fujitsu and Hitachi) have managed to maintain a foothold in the market.
It should be mentioned that this history involves many rather complex processes of acquisitions, mergers, joint
ventures, and other business deals, which are difficult to fully map out. Such a complete mapping is anyway beyond
the scope of this chapter.
25 Although the Japanese companies (NEC, Fujitsu and Hitachi) have managed to maintain a foothold in the market.
26 It should be mentioned that this history involves many rather complex processes of acquisitions, mergers, joint
ventures, and other business deals, which are difficult to fully map out. Such a complete mapping is anyway beyond
the scope of this chapter.
24
27
developing such switches. Nortel (at that time Northern Telecom) and Ericsson were two of the
firms that strengthened their positions in this process. Nortel’s DMS-100 was one of the first
commercialized digital switches and lay the foundation for Nortel growing into a major telecom
supplier, in North America, Europe and Asia and in both fixed and mobile communications.
Similarly, Ericsson’s AXE (jointly developed with Televerket) also allowed for Ericsson to
strengthen its competitive position, and the use of AXE in cellular networks proved critical to
Ericsson’s success in the field.
For other companies, although managing to develop switches, their situation became problematic. ITT developed the quite advanced System 12, which was launched to the market in
1982. However, the company - by that time an international conglomerate having acquired
hundreds of companies - suffered from low profitability and allegations of having been involved
in involvement several unethical affairs, sold its telecom businesses to Alcatel in 1986/87. 27
Most British, Italian and Dutch manufacturers were acquired by international competitors in the
1980s and 1990s, while French and German ones managed stay independent longer. The British
supplier industry, sometimes dubbed the ‘Ring’, was a cartel-like structure of three major
British firms (GEC, STC [an ITT subsidiary] and Plessey). British Telecom tasked two of the
companies, GEC and Plessey, to develop and supply the System X digital switching technology.
In 1987 the companies merged into GPT (GEC-Plessey Telecommunications). 28 In 1989,
Siemens acquired a major stake in the company, which eventually split into two parts: (1) one
part evolving into Siemens GEC Communications Systems (1997), eventually becoming
Siemens Enterprise Communications in 2008 and (2) the other part evolved, through series of
mergers and reconstructions, into Marconi Communications, which in turn was eventually
acquired by Ericsson in 2005. The third company, STC was also actually involved in
developing System X at an early stage but withdrew, was acquired by Nortel in 1991. 29
Italian Italtel and Telettra also jointly developed a digital switch. However, due to the inward
looking and protective nature of the Italian market, neither of these companies managed to build
a strong international presence before the 1990s. 30 Eventually Alcatel acquired Telettra (from
FIAT) in 1991, while Italtel, after a range of ownership changes, was sold to a US investment
fund in 2000. 31 Philip’s telecommunications activities were taken over by AT&T; via a joint
venture in 1984, AT&T eventually completely acquired Philip’s telecom business in 1990. 32
As mentioned in Table 2.1, by the early 1980s the French equipment supply industry had
consolidated and been nationalized into Alcatel. Through the acquisition of ITT, it became a
major international player. Alcatel, that already had developed their own switch (E10), thus
inherited System 12 from ITT and had two product lines for a while. The 1980s German market
was dominated Siemens and SEL (Standard Elektrik Lorenz, an ITT company). While SEL was
27 See Chapuis & Joel (1990), chapter on "The ITT (now Alcatel) System 12, and a range of web sources e.g.
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/96/International-Telephone-and-Telegraph-Corporation.html
28 Bekkers (2001: 57)
29 See Bekkers (2001:52-55) and a range of other sources.
30 Bekkers (2001:58)
31 See http://www.italtel.com/en/about-italtel-eng,
http://www.italtel.com/images/BILANCI/Italtel%20GroupItaltel%20Annual%20Report%202013.pdf
32 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcatel-Lucent
28
acquired by Alcatel in 1988, Siemens developed their own EWDS switch, and also started
expanding internationally through acquisitions e.g. of a part of GEC-Plessey (see above).
On the other side of the Atlantic, the US market was deregulated early on. In 1984, the Bell
system (the biggest corporation in the US) broke up into: (1) seven regional (Bell) operating
companies (the so called RBOCs or Baby Bells) and (2) AT&T, which retained control of the
long-distance operations, Bell Labs and the manufacturing arm – Western Electric, the latter
renamed to AT&T Technologies. Without its guaranteed captive market, the new company
struggled for profitability. AT&T announced in 1995 that the company would split a second
time, this time into three companies: a (1) computer company (NCR), a (2) services company
(AT&T) and a (3) telecom manufacturer and R&D company (Lucent). Lucent was spun off and
introduced to the stock market in 1996. The smaller US competitor, GTE, underwent a several
changes in the 1980s and 1990s, to many to account for completely here. However, the
company seems to have divested most of its telecom equipment supplier business in the late
1980s to Siemens and to Fujitsu. Eventually, in 1984, the GTE merged with Bell Atlantic to
form Verizon (the new company being focused operations – not equipment supply). 33
Finally, the Japanese suppliers used a system of “controlled competition”, in which
telecommunications equipment was developed jointly by the powerful operator NTT and a
closed group of suppliers (NEC, Fujitsu, Hitachi and Oki). 34 Typically these companies were
active not only in telecom equipment supply, but also in computing, and microelectronics, 35 and
thanks to its large domestic market; they also managed to stay present as independent suppliers
throughout the time period, albeit not as leading players.
Mobile communications: renews growth and new entrants
One may say that it was the introduction of the first generation cellular systems (1G) in the early
1980s, which marked the birth of global mobile communications industry. 36 It was the Nordic
countries that launched the first commercially successful cellular systems. In doing so, the
Nordic supply industry could use early mover advantages to secure leading positions in this
growing market also outside (Ericsson mainly on the system side and Nokia/Mobira mainly for
terminals). Still Motorola (the leading US radio supplier) managed to enter with a strong
foothold the industry, becoming one of the leading suppliers for terminals and radio base
stations. Other companies with an early presence in cellular infrastructure were: AT&T/Lucent,
Nortel and NEC. In addition to those, local standards implemented in e.g. Germany, France,
Italy and Japan, tended to favor local suppliers (e.g. Siemens, Thomson, Italtel and Telettra),
while those companies were less successful in on the international market, with the exception of
Japanese handset manufacturers.
In the much larger 2G cellular systems market, European (especially Nokia and Ericsson)
suppliers could benefit from early move advantages of the GSM standard (developed in the
33
See e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GTE and http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/gtecorporation-history/
34 See Fransman 1995
35 Fransman (1995)
36 This section draws on Lindmark et al (2004: Ch7 & 8) unless stated otherwise.
29
1980s and commercialized in the 1990s). The introduction of GSM also marked an opening up
and expansion of the market, partly because of cheaper and better services and products and
partly because it was accompanied by introduction of competition, thereby expanding demand
for infrastructure even more. Few suppliers had the capability to supply switching equipment to
these systems, initially only Ericsson, Alcatel, Nokia and Siemens, later followed by Lucent and
Nortel, while the radio base station market was more competitive (including more suppliers,
notably Motorola). Initially, on the handset market, Motorola, Nokia and Ericsson all managed
substantially improve their market shares, although the positions of Ericsson and Motorola
would soon erode (Figure 2.1). The companies that were strong in GSM managed leverage their
position the US IS-136 standard, which was based on a similar radio access technology.
Figure 2.1: Market shares for selected terminal suppliers (1984-2003)
40
35
30
25
Nokia/Mobira
20
Motorola
(Sony) Ericsson
15
Samsung
10
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1995
1994
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1988
1987
1986
1985
0
1984
5
Source: Lindmark et al. (2004: 251)
Along this trajectory of standards “wars” Ericsson managed to push successfully for its
preferred technologies in 3G standard setting (WCDMA/UMTS in the late 90s) and in 4G (LTE
in the late 2000s), which helped company to cement its position as the leading mobile
infrastructure supplier.
The rise of the Internet and data communications suppliers
A second major growth market was data communication/Internet. While Europeans were largely
developing solutions within the pre-dominant telecom paradigm (e.g. circuit-switched data,
Videotex, ISDN, ATM), it was instead developments in the US that formed the basis for
modern data communications. These early developments include: (1) datacom over telephone
networks using modems in 1960s, (2) the birth of ARPANET in 1969 and its choice to use
packet data, (3) the emergence of online services such as Compuserve in 1979 (eventually
overtaken by AOL as leading provider in the 1990s) and (4) the emergence of LANs, notably
Ethernet in the 1970s. 37
37
Lindmark et al. (2004:381-383)
30
These early development of networking technologies and services in the US gave the country a
head-start in developing equipment. The fast-growing use of computer networks allowed both
small start-ups and large computing firms to innovate in the networking area. During the 1970s
and 1980s, established computer firms such as IBM and DEC developed communication
equipment and proprietary computer communication protocols that diffused widely. However,
the firms that eventually came to dominate the computer networking industry were companies
that were started in the 1980s and 1990s to exploit the opportunities of open standards, notably
TCP/IP and Ethernet, taking advantage unique access to venture capital, and other advantages of
(mostly) being located in Silicon Valley. Between them, Cisco, 3Com (eventually acquired by
HP) and Bay Networks (acquired by Nortel, and eventually sold to Avaya when Nortel went
bankrupt, see below) for long held rather a strong grip on the market for computer communications equipment. The large domestic market in the US provided a stable ground for these US
firms to propel into world computer networking market leadership, a development similar to
how US packaged software firms leveraged the US domestic PC market in the 1980s. While
today’s market shares are difficult to assess, clearly Cisco is the dominant player, followed by
Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, ZTE and Juniper (another start-up from late 1990s). 38
The telecom manufacturing industry on the other hand, largely missed this train, with failed
investments in e.g. broadband telecommunications switches able to handle voice, video and
data. These failed efforts spurred an acquisition frenzy of mainly US-based datacom suppliers in
the late 1990s.
The telecom boom and bust
The evolution of telecom sector should also been seen in the face the Internet bubble and its
burst in 2000. The collapse of the telecommunications industry around the millennium shift can
be understood by first explaining the boom of the late 1990s. This boom was partly driven by
unrealistic expectations of market growth and an overheated financial market, a maturing
mobile market in need for renewed growth, and fueled by an unfortunate 3G licensing regime.
This led to overinvestment, in particular in 3G licenses, but also in network capacity and in
acquisitions raising debt to levels that could not be sustained, leading to write-downs,
divestments, bankruptcies and halted investments. Faced with cost structures adapted to false
market expectations, equipment suppliers’ profits were rapidly turned into huge losses. 39
Downsizing among suppliers has enabled some to regain profitability, while others disappeared.
The effects of the bubble are well illustrated by the evolution of revenues and profits for four of
the main equipment suppliers at that time, Alcatel, Ericsson, Lucent and Nortel 40, who, as
general pattern, show very rapid revenue growth up until the year 2000 with drastic falls in
revenues in 2000-2002 and concomitant huge losses. These losses were especially severe for the
North American suppliers Lucent and Nortel, who were the most aggressive suppliers in terms
of acquisitions, vendor financing, and engaged in dubious accounting practices. It also puts the
38
This paragraph draws mainly on Lindmark et al. (2004:196-197)
See Fransman (2003) and Lindmark et al. (2004: 91-93
40 As shown by Lazonick and March (2010:2)
39
31
crisis of Ericsson into perspective, since of these four; it is the company that, by far, came out
best of the crisis. We briefly elaborate on the other three below.
Lucent was perhaps the supplier that benefitted most from the boom, but was also first hit by the
bust. During the late 1990s Lucent’s focus shifted to broadband and optical networking, using
risky vendor financing schemes to secure contracts. The company also made a large number of
acquisitions of young IP-based technology companies; typically using its stock as payment (it
acquired 36 companies for USD 47 billion between1997-2000). 41 Starting in 2001, Lucent’s
sales imploded from more than USD 40 bn to less than 10 bn in just three years, making tens of
billions of dollars of losses in the process. In a restructuring program, the company laid off
many employees, closed down manufacturing facilities and saved itself from bankruptcy by
selling its stock at 1-2 % of its previous value. It also divested a number of business units: (1)
Consumer products already in 1997; (2) enterprise networks in 2000 as Avaya in 2000 and (3)
microelectronics in 2001 as Agere. It sold its power systems to Tyco International in 2000 and
its optical fiber solutions business to Furukawa electronic in 2002. While the company was
saved and could return to profitability in 2004, it was substantially smaller and weakened and
did not anymore have the capability respond to growth mobile communications due to a
weakness in the leading 3G standard UMTS. In 2006 Lucent became part of Alcatel. 42
Similar to Lucent, Nortel expanded heavily in later parts of the 1990s. Between 1997 and 2000,
it acquired companies for USD 30 billion, notably Bay Networks for USD 9.1 billion.
Following the implosion of the market, the company made even bigger losses than Lucent in
2001. The company conducted a dramatic restructuring, laying off around two-thirds of its
workforce, conducted huge write-offs, and returned to black figures in 2003. However, Nortel
suffered also from accounting scandals and financial mismanagement. Entering into to the
financial crisis in in 2009, it filed for bankruptcy. In this process, Ericsson acquired Nortel’
assets in mobile communications, Avaya its business enterprise networking assets, with Ciena,
Genband and Hitachi acquiring other parts. Its 6000 patents were sold a consortium including
among others Apple and Ericsson. 43
Alcatel went through a similar but somewhat less dramatic boom and bust. Still, the company
(with strong positions in optical communication and ADSL), had problems returning to
acceptable levels of profitability when market turned up again. In 2006, the by then much larger
Alcatel merged with Lucent to form Alcatel-Lucent.
Among other major suppliers, it could be mentioned that Cisco (see further below) and
especially Nokia was less affected by the crisis. Cisco will be discussed below and Nokia
elsewhere in this report. It could be noted Cisco’s strength was in the enterprise market and
Nokia’s in mobile phones, thus both companies were less dependent on operators market than
Lucent, Ericsson, Alcatel and Ericsson, and therefore less affected by the bust.
41
42
43
Lazonick and March (2010)
ibid.
See e.g. Lazonick and March (2010) and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nortel
32
Meanwhile, Siemens had pursued an international growth strategy since the late 1980s, early on
acquiring companies like British GEC and Plessey (see above), Rolm Systems (a PBX supplier)
from IBM, followed by acquisitions of US-based Stromberg-Carlsson (1990) and the PABX
business of UK-based Mercury Communications (1996). In 1998, Siemens formed an ICT
division (Siemens COM) as part of a major restructuring of the company’s telecom businesses.
Similar to the other major players, the company acquired several US data networking
companies in the late 1990s and the company suffered from the burst of the bubble in the early
2000s. Later in 2006, Siemens telecom activities were divided into two companies (1) Siemens
Enterprise Communications and (2) Siemens Networks in preparation for pursuing strategic
alliances and divestments. Siemens Enterprise Communications formed a joint venture with the
American private equity company Gores Group, the venture eventually in 2013, being
rebranded to Unify. Siemens Networks was merged with Nokia in 2007, into Nokia Siemens
Networks, with operations residing with Nokia. Eventually, when all Siemens shares had been
acquired, the company was renamed Nokia Networks. 44
At this writing, Nokia (network, for it handset business see below) is in the process of merging
with Alcatel-Lucent. In April 2015, Nokia announced that it had agreed to purchase AlcatelLucent for €15.6 billion in an all-stock deal, where Nokia shareholders will hold 2/3 of the
combined company, which will be branded Nokia. The acquisition is expected to be completed
in early 2016, subject to regulatory approval. 45
Motorola had also begun feeling the pressure of the crisis and competition in the telecom
industry. Once the leading supplier, the market share of its mobile phones started to decline
sharply in the mid-1990s, in 1998 the company was overtaken by Nokia a market leader (Figure
1). It continued to struggle with declining market shares, poor profitability and an inability to
capitalize on growing emerging markets. It divested its semiconductor business to Freescale
Semiconductors in 2003 and sold its mobile infrastructure business to Nokia Siemens in 2010,
for a mere USD 1.2 billion. The remaining parts if the company were divided into two
companies in 2011: (1) Motorola Mobility (handsets) and (2) Motorola Solutions (enterprise
mobility and public safety radio solutions). Google acquired the handset division in 2012 (for $
12.5 bn) in a pursuit to enter the mobile phone business and acquire intellectual property, only
to later sell to Lenovo for a much lower price (still retaining control of the patents). Meanwhile,
in 2014, Motorola Solutions sold its enterprise division to Zebra technologies (a leader in
Barcodes and RFID). Hence, what remains in 2015 of this once global leader in radio
communications is a company with focusing on public safety mobility solutions ($ 6 billion in
revenues and 14.000 employees).
Smartphones and the rise of mobile Internet: new players enter and old ones
disappear
The combination of the two above mentioned growth trends, i.e. (1) mobile and (2) Internet
based data communications, fuelled another major growth segment – Mobile Internet. Several
parallel developments drove this growth: (a) increasingly data capable mobile networks (2G,
44
45
The development of Nokia’s network business up to this point is treated elsewhere in this report.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia#2014_to_present
33
3G, 4G and WiFi), (b) new protocols and middleware (e.g. WAP) and (c) smarter and more
capable terminals (PDAs, later smart phones, tablets etc.).
Expectations of the Mobile Internet were high, but growth was disappointing for a long time. A
first breakthrough came in the early 2000s with NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode service in Japan, a
success that was mainly due to its unique business model and ability of DoCoMo to control the
crucial parts of the value network, with i-mode as platform on top of which a vibrant ecosystem
of content and application providers thrived. European and US actors failed to emulate this
success in spite of numerous efforts and initiatives (WAP, introducing i-mode in Europe, etc.),
and still by the mid-2000s most of the revenues of operators came from voice and sms. 46 In the
mid-2000s, smartphones were rare still outside Japan, although BlackBerrys and phones based
on Microsoft Windows became quite popular among business users in the US. In Europe, Nokia
and other handset manufacturers pushed smartphones based on the Symbian operating system,
with limited success.
The major break-through came instead from outside the traditional mobile telephone industry, in
2007, when Apple introduced the iPhone, followed in 2008 with the first Android (an operating
system based on Linux initiated by Google) phones were introduced, and rapidly came to
systems was that they acted as platforms (just like i-mode) on top of which of third party
applications (now called apps) could reach ever increasing user bases.
Figure 2.2: Worldwide smartphone sales per operating system (2007-2003; thousands of units)
1200000
1000000
Android
iOS
800000
Windows mobile
Windows Phone
600000
BlackBerry/RIM
400000
Symbian
Bada
200000
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
Other OS
0
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_operating_system (accessed 26 May 2015).
Supporting the right platform became crucial for handset manufacturers, since there seemed to
be room for only two or possibly three of those. Nokia, initially backing the Symbian platform,
then switching to Windows phone, failed to successfully make the transition to smart phones.
Also other traditional European, US and Japanese handset manufacturers fared less well and/or
disappeared (Sony-Ericsson, Motorola, Alcatel, Siemens). Samsung has been an exception,
increasing its market shares to become the leading smartphone supplier alongside Apple. The
Smartphone market leaders (in addition to Apple and Samsung) are instead a new breed a
46
Lindmark et al. 2004b.
34
suppliers, including HTC, Google, LG and Microsoft, as well as several Chinese ones (e.g.
Lenovo, Huawei, Xiaomi, Coolpad, ZTE and TCL). The Chinese companies have a particularly
strong position in the home market, where they benefit, not only from low labor costs, but also
from favorable IP-regulation. 47
Just as many of the telecom equipment suppliers consolidated and spun-off their enterprise
businesses (Lucent to Avaya, Alcatel-Lucent to China Huaxin, Siemens to Unify, Ericsson to
Aastra/Mitel, and Nortel to Avaya), many also divested their handset businesses:
•
•
•
•
•
Ericsson and Sony created the Sony-Ericsson joint venture in 2001, where Sony acquired
Ericsson’s share in 2012.
Alcatel created Alcatel Mobile Phones in 2004 – a joint venture with Chinese TCL. TCL
later acquired Alcatel shares.
Taiwanese BenQ acquired Siemens Mobile in 2005.
Motorola sold its handset business to Google in 2012 (acquired by Lenovo in 2014).
Nokia sold its handset business to Microsoft in 2014
The rise of Asian suppliers
A final important development described here is the emergence of a number of new players
from South-East Asia (Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China). At the beginning of the investigated
time-period, Japanese suppliers were already well established in the market. At this writing, we
have not been able to fully trace the history of the Japanese suppliers, up until now. It seems
however that some of them are still present in the market, possibly partly as a result of the quite
protected Japanese market. As a rule they also stayed quite diversified offering a broad range of
ICT related products and services. NEC, a conglomerate present in a wide range of product
areas, reports revenues of around € 5 Bn, in its Telecom Carrier Business area business area. 48
Also Fujitsu, a strong global player in IT services and servers, appears to still be present, in
particular in the handset market, where it holds a runner-up position the domestic market after
Apple. 49 Hitachi is even more diversified, but also still have a presence in the telecommunications equipment market. 50 The same goes for the smaller and less diversified, OKI. 51
The Japanese companies aside, initially, the Asian new entrants came from South Korea
(Samsung, LG). Their entry was aided by strong government policy and betting on specific
technologies (e.g. CDMA). While this strategy proved to be successful in semiconductors,
displays, consumer electronics, and mobile phones, in telecoms equipment supply Korean
companies are not particularly strong (with some exceptions, e.g. Samsung’s wireless
broadband products). Neither are Taiwanese companies, which instead established prominent
positions in semiconductors, computers, computer peripherals and consumer electronics. 52
47
http://www.computerworld.com/article/2859707/the-rise-of-chinas-smartphone-makers.html
http://www.nec.com/en/global/ir/pdf/annual/2014/ar2014-e.pdf
49 See http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/IR/library/databook/pdf/15.pdf and
http://www.fujitsu.com/global/Images/annualreport2014-pdf-all_tcm100-1103711.pdf
50 See http://www.hitachi.com/IR-e/library/annual/2014/ar2014e.pdf
51 https://www.oki.com/en/ir/finance/library/ar2014pdf/ar2014.pdf
52 See e.g. Fransman (2014)
48
35
Instead it was China been that bred a number internationally successful telecom suppliers, most
notably Huawei. Huawei was founded in 1987, taking advantage of the Chinese government’s
program to modernize the country’s telecommunications infrastructure. The company was
initially focused on supplying PBXs, and has since diversified into telecom networks, enterprise
products, enterprise services and communications consumer devices. Instead of forming joint
ventures with foreign suppliers (a common practice at that time in China), Huawei focused on
internal development of its products. By 1993, it had developed its first SPC switch and
managed to sell it successfully in China.. In 1996, the Chinese government decided to explicitly
support domestic suppliers, promoting Huawei as a national champion. Huawei’s international
expansion commenced the same year, when it also entered the GSM market. Internationally, it
initially focused on other developing markets (e.g. Russia, Thailand, Brazil, South Africa and
other African countries) where competition was less intense and where low price was a key
selling point. By 2000, it started to establish R&D centers abroad, first in Stockholm, followed
by centers the US. By then, the company was also increasingly targeting advanced markets, and
made its first major sales in Europe in 2001. It entered the 3G market in 2004, and in 2005 its
international sales started to exceed its domestic ones. By this time Huawei also entered the
Internet data communications market, which up until then had been dominated by Cisco (also in
China). At this writing Huawei has become a global leader with a strong presence in all major
segments (switching, datacom, wireless, enterprise systems and also handsets), with more
110.000 employees, two thirds of its revenues from international markets, a strong R&D and
patent portfolio, and active contribution to standardization (e.g. LTE) 53
The Chinese government also fostered other telecommunications equipment companies, notably
ZTE (Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Group) and Julong (Great Dragon) and. 54
2.5
Conclusions
This chapter analyzed the transformation of the global telecom equipment supplier industry;
from nationally oriented markets of the 1980s to the globally competitive industry of today
(2015). It started with the establishment of “PTT regime”, dominated by national monopolies
for telephony service provision supplemented by primarily domestic suppliers – a system that
persisted, more or less, until the late 1980s.
A number of pervasive trends and major events have affected the sector since then: (1) growth
of markets in particular mobile and datacoms, (2) technological progress, (3) digitalization, and
the resulting (4) convergence, (5) the changing role of standardization, (6) the changing R&D
regime, (7) liberalization, and the resulting (8) changing industrial structure.
Against the backdrop of these trends and events, the chapter accounted for the dynamics of the
telecom supplier industry and the fates of its leading equipment suppliers. Clearly todays global
Internet and mobile ecosystem of which telecom suppliers are parts, is very different from the
53
See http://csis.org/files/publication/130215_competitiveness_Huawei_casestudy_Web.pdf and also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huawei
54 See further http://www.digitaltrends.com/ces/gauging-the-rise-of-the-chinese-tech-brands/ and discuss ZTE see
e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZTE#History
36
closed national PTT regime of the 1980s. In this process of turbulent change, only one of
leading players in the 1980s remains as an independent entity – Ericsson (possibly with the
exception of Japanese suppliers). Ericsson’s traditional competitors have been acquired,
merged, or gone bankrupt. Many companies have disappeared (e.g. ITT and Nortel). The rise of
mobile allowed some companies to enter and establish leading positions (Nokia, Motorola), but
did not manage to survive as major players (e.g. Motorola), while others merged or were
acquired (Alcatel-Lucent, Siemens). Following from the widespread diffusion of the Internet
and globalization, some new entrants have risen to global leadership (e.g. Huawei from China
and Cisco from the US).
37
3
A comparison of the Finnish and
the Swedish ICT sector
Jyrki Ali-Yrkkö, Juri Mattila, Mika Pajarinen and Petri Rouvinen
In both Finland and Sweden, the ICT sector accounts for 5–6% of GDP and 3–4% of total
working hours. Since Sweden is a bigger economy than Finland, its ICT sector has about
twice as workers. Software is the biggest ICT sub-sector in both countries. The most
apparent structural difference relates to ICT consulting, which in Sweden is over onefourth and in Finland under one-tenth of ICT employment. The Swedish ICT sector
appears more diverse and more dynamic than its Finnish counterpart.
3.1 A global view on ICT provision and use
As shown in Chapter 1, Finland and Sweden have the highest economy-wide intensity of ICT
specialists among the OECD countries – a metric measures the economy-wide intensity of ICT
provision and use.
Dozens of composite indices, including the EU’s Digital Economy and Society, ITU’s ICT
Development, and Tufts University’s Digital Evolution Index, have been developed for
measuring how countries fare in ICT use. While all of these indices have their idiosyncrasies,
they almost invariably have one feature in common: Finland and Sweden are among top
countries.
For example, World Economic Forum (WEF), best-known for its annual Davos meetings
gathering the world’s political and business elite to a Swiss ski resort, publishes The Networked
Readiness Index (NRI) as a part of its annual Global Information Technology Report.
Singapore, Finland, and Sweden are the top three among the 143 countries ranked in the 2015
edition of NRI. Among the ten sub-indices of NRI, Sweden ranks the highest in “individual
usage” and “economic impacts”. Finland gets its best marks in “skills” and “economic impacts”.
In international comparison, Finland and Sweden are undeniably among the most intense and
advanced ICT-using countries in the world.
Finland and Sweden have been, and continue to be, considerable ICT providers, even if their
global footprints are naturally somewhat limited by their relatively small sizes. Figure 3.1 is an
outcome of a complex calculation attempting to capture a country’s value added share of final
ICT goods and services demand abroad. The point of the exercise is to remove the impact of all
intermediate flows, which are particularly prevalent in ICT. Figure 3.1 suggests that the United
States satisfies 13.19% of non-US final demand of ICT goods and services; the corresponding
share for Sweden is 1.56% and for Finland 0.56%. While the Finnish and Swedish shares may
seem small, both countries clearly “punch above their weights” in ICT.
38
Figure 3.1: Value added shares of worldwide foreign demand of ICT goods and services in 2011
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
USA
China
Japan
Germany
Korea
UK
Taiwan
India
Italy
France
Switzerl.
Singapore
Malaysia
Ireland
Canada
Sweden
Spain
Netherl.
Philipp.
Israel
Belgium
Mexico
Austria
Thailand
Poland
Indonesia
Finland
Czech R.
Hungary
Vietnam
0
Source: OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2015.
Figure 3.2: The ICT sector’s share of the country’s total value added in 2007 and in 2013
Finland
Korea
Japan
Sweden
USA
Hungary
Ireland
Czech R.
UK
Germany
France
Netherl.
Slovak R.
Denmark
Estonia
Switzerland
Italy
Slovenia
Luxemb.
Belgium
Spain
Canada
Austria
Portugal
Mexico
Norway
Poland
Iceland
Greece
Korea
Japan
Ireland
Sweden
Hungary
USA
Czech R.
Finland
UK
Estonia
Slovak R.
Germany
Luxemb.
Netherl.
Switzerland
France
Slovenia
Denmark
Spain
Canada
Italy
Belgium
Austria
Portugal
Poland
Norway
Greece
Iceland
Mexico
2007
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
2013
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Source: OECD Digital Economy Outlook 2015.
In 2013, the ICT sector accounted for 5.5% the OECD area value added. This share has
remained relatively stable, even though variations across countries and over time have been
39
considerable. Earlier in the 2000s, Finland and Sweden were among the most ICT-intensive
countries in the world; currently they are still quite specialized in ICT, albeit not as clearly as in
the past (Figure 3.2).
As seen above, Finland and Sweden are intense and competent users of ICT. In relative terms,
both countries are also intense providers of ICT, even though their small sizes naturally
somewhat limit their global footprint. In what follows, we discuss further aspects of the Finnish
and Swedish ICT-providing sectors.
3.2
Definition
Defining the information and communication technology (ICT) sector is difficult due to the
general purpose nature of underlying technologies and due to their ubiquity in virtually all
current market offerings to a varying degree (in the form of directly embedded hardware/
software or in elements that support the provision and use of the offering).
In this chapter we mostly concentrate on comparing the Finnish and Swedish ICT sectors in
light of available statistics. In order to do so, we adapt the most widely accepted definition of
the ICT sector promoted by the OECD. Under the OECD definition we identify seven subsectors (NACE Rev. 2 industry codes in parentheses; the OECD definition of the ICT sector
corresponds to the sum of the seven sub-sectors):
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
CT manufacturing (263);
IT manufacturing, incl. non-CT electronics and all repair ICT (261, 262, 264, 268, 951);
IT wholesale (4651, 4652);
Telecom (61);
Software (582, 6201);
ICT consulting (6202);
ICT maintenance (6203, 6209, 631).
The above seven sub-sectors provide a rough breakdown of the ICT industry, even though
relevant economic markets – such as leasing cloud computing capacity – are more narrowly
defined and to a large extent cannot be identified in the industrial classifications employed by
statistical agencies.
3.3
Industry trends
Until the mid-1990s, The ICT sector was of similar economic importance in Finland and
Sweden and it accounted for 3–5% of the countries’ GDP (Figure 3.3) and employment (Figure
3.6). Since then, Finland experienced a Nokia-led boom-bust cycle. In 2002, the sector’s GDP
share was twice as high as in Finland compared to what it was in Sweden. In terms of
employment, however, the difference was less drastic – the sector’s employment in Finland was
about one-fifth larger than what it was in Sweden. Ultimately in 2014, the ICT sector’s GDP
share was again about the same, 5–6%, in both countries and the ICT sector accounts for about
4% of total labor hours in Finland and about 3% in Sweden.
40
Figure 3.3: The importance of the ICT sector and Nokia/Ericsson in the Finnish/Swedish economy
10
The ICT sector as a percentage of GDP
9
Finland
8
7
Sweden
6
5
4
3
2
1
2014
2012
2010
2008
2006
2002
2004
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2008
2010
2012
2014
2002
2000
1998
2006
1990
2014
2012
2010
2008
-5
2006
-5
2004
0
2002
5
0
2000
10
5
1998
10
1996
15
1994
20
15
1992
20
1990
25
2004
30
25
1996
1990
2014
2012
2010
35
Ericsson’s share
of ICT value
added in
Sweden
2002
30
40
2000
35
45
Nok ia’s share
of ICT value
added in
Finland
1998
40
2008
-0,5
2006
-0,5
2004
0,0
2002
0,0
2000
0,5
1998
1,0
0,5
1996
1,0
1994
1,5
1992
1,5
1990
2,0
1994
2,5
2,0
45
2000
3,0
1996
2,5
1994
3,0
Ericsson’s
share of
Swedish
GDP
3,5
1992
3,5
1998
1996
1994
1992
1990
1988
1986
4,0
Nok ia’s
share of
Finnish
GDP
1992
4,0
1984
1982
1980
0
Source: ETLA calculations on the basis of the Finnish and Swedish national accounts as well as Nokia’s and
Ericsson’s financial statements. Here ICT consists of ISIC Rev. 4 classes 26 and 61–63.
Nokia’s share of Finnish GDP was the highest, four per cent, in year 2000, at which time it
directly (excluding its domestic partner and supplier network, which consisted of several
hundred companies at the time) accounted for over forty per cent of the sector’s value added in
Finland (Figure 3.3). In year 2000, Ericsson’s share of Swedish GDP was about two per cent
41
and its share of the sector’s value added in Sweden was about thirty per cent. Ericsson too was
both directly and indirectly a “national champion” and leader of the ICT sector, but it was never
as dominating as Nokia was in Finland. Since year 2000, Nokia’s direct role started to shrink but
remained large until 2008. Nokia’s indirect role reduced even earlier and to a larger extent, as in
the course of the 2000s Nokia went from a significantly Finland-based to a wholly international
partner and supplier network. Ericsson faced its greatest difficulties several years earlier and its
clout in Sweden reduced in early 2000s, which – along with reductions in Ericsson’s external
contracting – intensified the Swedish ICT sector’s search for a new identity outside its historical
core. The same search took place in Finland almost a decade later.
Currently, both Nokia in Finland and Ericsson in Sweden remain nationally important
companies, but not overwhelmingly so. 55 Nokia accounts for about half a per cent of Finnish
GDP and about one-tenth of the sector’s value added in Finland. Ericsson’s corresponding
shares in Sweden are comparable, albeit somewhat smaller.
The Finnish ICT sector’s Nokia-led boom-bust cycle is most evident upon considering the share
of ICT in total goods exports (Figure 3.4). 56 In 1996, ICT goods comprised of 13% of total
exports in both Finland and Sweden. The shares peaked in both countries in year 2000: the share
was was 24% in Finland and 18% in Sweden. Since then the proportions have gradually
declined in both countries. In 2013, the share was 2% in Finland and 7% in Sweden.
Figure 3.4: The share of ICT in total goods exports
25
20
Finland
15
10
Sweden
5
0
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Source: United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database. ICT goods definition: 6-digit HS codes based on
OECD Guide to Measuring the Information Society 2011, Table 2.A1.3.
In both countries, but particularly in Finland, the ICT sector is still dominant but shrinking part
of business enterprise R&D (Figure 3.5). In 2006, ICT sector employed 53% of business sector
R&D workers in Finland and 26% in Sweden. In 2010, the proportions were 45% and 16%.
55 Due to heavy global losses largely shown at Nokia’s headquarter country of Finland, Nokia’s value added
attributed to Finland was negative in 2012.
56 It would be more appropriate to consider goods and service exports and value added rather than gross exports, but
international trade statistics do not allow for this.
42
Figure 3.5: Share of the ICT sector in total business R&D employment
60
Finland
50
40
30
20
Sweden
10
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Source: European Commission PREDICT Database. Here ICT consists of ISIC Rev. 4 classes 26 and 61–63.
Figure 3.6: Share of the ICT sector in total working hours
5,0
Finland
4,5
4,0
3,5
Sweden
3,0
2,5
2,0
1,5
1,0
0,0
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
0,5
Source: OECD STAN database. Here ICT consists of ISIC Rev. 4 classes 26 and 61–63.
3.4
Industry characteristics in more detail
In the previous section, we considered the Finnish and Swedish ICT sectors at large. In this
section, we provide a more refined view of the two countries’ ICT sectors in light of Finnish
and Swedish business register data. We first analyze the current structure of the sector and then
consider sectoral dynamics since the beginning of the still lingering financial crisis.
As an economy, Sweden is about twice as large as Finland (Sweden is more populous and
richer), which factors into any comparison. Thus, we provide both absolute and relative
numbers. The Swedish ICT sector is larger than its Finnish counterpart (Figure 3.7): expectedly
the sector in Sweden employs about twice as workers as in Finland, but observing that it
consists of nearly six times as many companies is a striking disparity. In terms of employment,
software is the biggest sub-sector in both countries (32% in Finland, 28% in Sweden). CT
manufacturing is considerably larger in Finland (20% vs 13%) but the most apparent difference
between the two countries is the prominence of Swedish ICT consulting (26% vs 9%).
43
Figure 3.7: ICT company (top) and employment characteristics (middle and bottom) in 2012
50 000
100%
Companies
45 000
IC manufacturing
40 000
90%
80%
IT manufacturing
35 000
70%
IT wholesale
30 000
25 000
Telecom oper.
20 000
60%
50%
40%
Software
15 000
ICT consulting
10 000
5 000
ICT maintenance
0
20%
10%
0%
Finland
Sweden
200 000
180 000
30%
Finland
Sweden
Finland
Sweden
100%
Employment
IC manufacturing
160 000
90%
80%
IT manufacturing
140 000
70%
IT wholesale
120 000
100 000
Telecom oper.
80 000
60%
50%
40%
Software
60 000
ICT consulting
40 000
20 000
ICT maintenance
0
30%
20%
10%
0%
Finland
Sweden
100%
100%
100%
90%
90%
90%
80%
Age
70%
80%
Size
70%
80%
Region
70%
21- y.
60%
11-20 y.
250-
60%
50%
5-10 y.
50%
40%
0-4 y.
40%
50-249
10-49
60%
Other
regions
50%
Capital
region
40%
0-9
N/A
30%
30%
30%
20%
20%
20%
10%
10%
10%
0%
0%
Finland Sweden
0%
Finland Sweden
Finland Sweden
Sources: Business registers of Statistics Finland and Statistics Sweden.
If we consider ICT employment by firm age, we see that half of Swedish ICT workers are
employed by old companies (established over twenty years ago). In Finland, the corresponding
share is only about one-third. The share of 5–10 year old firms is Finland is quite high but the
share of the 0–4 year old firms is quite low, which suggests that, in the course of the ongoing
crisis, ICT startup activity has been better in Sweden.
44
When employment is split by firm size, we observe that 55% of Finnish ICT employment is in
large companies (those with at least 250 employees in the country). The corresponding share for
Sweden is 45%, a full ten percentage points lower. Correspondingly, the relative share of micro
(under ten employees) and small companies (from 10 to 49 employees) are both 4–5 percentage
points higher in Sweden.
In both countries, the relative role of the capital region in terms of employment is dominant. In
Finland, nearly 80% of ICT workers are employed by companies, whose headquarters are in the
capital region. In Sweden, the corresponding percentage is smaller albeit still high, almost 70%.
3.5
Dynamics of the ICT sector since 2008
In this section we study ICT employment dynamics during the crisis, i.e., since 2008. We
consider four types of industrial dynamics: entries, i.e., companies that enter into the ICT sector
since 2008; exits, i.e., companies that exit from the ICT by 2012; increases, i.e., companies
with larger domestic employment in 2012 than in 2008; decreases, i.e., companies with smaller
domestic employment in 2012 than in 2008. Below we will sometimes discuss the above four
categories separately but it should be kept in mind that it is their joint net effect that ultimately
matters for a nation-state.
In 2008–2012, Finnish ICT employment decreased by over 10,000 persons; in the meanwhile,
Swedish ICT employment increased by about 4,000 persons (Figure 3.8).
Figure 3.8: ICT employment dynamics in Finland and in Sweden
200 000
180 000
100%
Finland
90%
160 000
80%
140 000
70%
120 000
60%
100 000
Entry to industry
80 000
50%
40%
Empl. decreases
60 000
30%
40 000
Empl. increases
20%
20 000
Exit from industry
10%
0
0%
2008
2012
200 000
180 000
2008
2012
2008
2012
100%
Sweden
90%
160 000
80%
140 000
70%
120 000
60%
100 000
Entry to industry
80 000
50%
40%
Empl. decreases
60 000
40 000
20 000
30%
Empl. increases
20%
Exit from industry
10%
0
0%
2008
2012
Sources: Business registers of Statistics Finland and Statistics Sweden.
45
The entry–exit dynamic was similar in both countries (Figure 3.8). In the window considered
here, both exiting and entering firms accounted for 10–14% of the sector’s employment. A
closer look nevertheless revealed that entry–exit dynamic had a somewhat larger negative
employment impact in Finland than in Sweden.
Figure 3.9: ICT employment effects of entries, exits, increases, and decreases in 2008–2012
40 000
35 000
100%
Entry
90%
IC manufacturing
80%
IT manufacturing
70%
25 000
IT wholesale
60%
20 000
Telecom oper.
50%
15 000
Software
40%
10 000
ICT consulting
30 000
ICT maintenance
5 000
0
20%
10%
0%
Finland
Sweden
40 000
35 000
30%
Finland
Sweden
Finland
Sweden
Finland
Sweden
90%
80%
IT manufacturing
70%
25 000
IT wholesale
60%
20 000
Telecom oper.
50%
15 000
Software
40%
10 000
ICT consulting
30 000
ICT maintenance
5 000
0
30%
20%
10%
0%
Finland
Sweden
40 000
100%
Increases
90%
IC manufacturing
80%
IT manufacturing
70%
25 000
IT wholesale
60%
20 000
Telecom oper.
50%
15 000
Software
40%
10 000
ICT consulting
30 000
ICT maintenance
5 000
0
30%
20%
10%
0%
Finland
Sweden
40 000
35 000
Sweden
100%
Exit
IC manufacturing
35 000
Finland
100%
Decreases
90%
IC manufacturing
80%
IT manufacturing
70%
25 000
IT wholesale
60%
20 000
Telecom oper.
50%
15 000
Software
40%
10 000
ICT consulting
30 000
ICT maintenance
5 000
0
30%
20%
10%
0%
Finland
Sweden
Sources: Business registers of Statistics Finland and Statistics Sweden.
46
About 40% of entering Finnish and 53% of entering Swedish companies were in software
(Figure 3.9). In Finland, the second biggest sub-sector was ICT maintenance, which accounted
for 18% of new entrants (only 11% in Sweden). In Sweden, the second biggest sub-sector was
ICT consulting, which accounted for 25% of new entrants (only 10% in Finland).
Regarding employment effects of exits, in Sweden the largest sub-sectors in this respect are the
same as in the case of entries, i.e., software (47%) and ICT consulting (21%). This entry-exit
dynamic indicates that there has been quite powerful consolidation and perhaps also offshoring
processes occurring in these industries. A similar phenomenon took place in Finnish ICT
maintenance, in which 4,405 jobs were lost via exits and 1,489 jobs were gained via entries.
In Sweden, the employment of growing continuing companies expanded by 34,018 persons,
while companies of the same type added only 15,799 workers in Finland. In Sweden, the
employment effect of growing companies was the highest in software (39%) and in ICT
consulting (29%); in Finland, the main sub-sectors in this respect were software (36%) and ICT
maintenance (27%).
Shrinking continuing companies lost 34,018 jobs in Sweden and 20,715 jobs in Finland. In
Sweden, software (32%) and telecom (22%) had the largest shares of lost employment due to
shrinking continuing companies. In Finland, the largest sub-sectors in this respect were CT
manufacturing (48%), to which Nokia belongs to, and software (21%).
3.6
Recent global developments in ICT
Ever-deepening digitalization has induced a societal transformation that may ultimately prove to
be comparable with the original industrial revolution. In the last ten years, we have seen a
number of changes that have led to major discontinuities in the provision and use of ICT. This
digital disruption has challenges previous industry leaders – companies and countries – and
provided opportunities for new entrants. Finland and Sweden have felt both up- and downsides
associated with this disruption.
The digital disruption has been brought about by two interrelated developments: the convergence of ICT industries and related technologies as well as the emergence of what is sometimes
referred to as the nexus of forces in the digital space.
The digital/industry/technology convergence refers to the unification of digital communications,
information systems, consumer electronics, as well as software and digital content of various
sorts. This convergence tends to break previously prevailing sectoral silos. The convergence
was a widely-discussed phenomenon among ICT consultants and scholars in the early 1990s. In
early 2000s, seemingly both consultants’ and scholars’ interest in the discussion on convergence
waned, even if the phenomenon started to accelerate. The convergence discussion was revitalized, and the phenomenon to a considerable step towards is completion, with the launch of
Apple’s original iPhone in January 2007 and further blazed up with Google’s Android in 2009.
Roughly since year 2010, all actors in the digital space have been dealing with aspects of the
convergence. ICT sub-sectors do still exist – in an elusive form – but commercial success in
them depends on other sub-sectors in a myriad of ways.
47
With the convergence, companies are continuously struggling in defining their target markets
and “value propositions” to their clients. Previously dominant industry leaders have found
themselves in vulnerable positions; often their previous market power have vanished, as new
offerings have circumvented the companies’ previous “choke points” (for instance, with the
advent of cloud computing, the dynamics of corporate client-server architecture hardware and
software markets have changed considerably).
The nexus of forces consists of three interrelated bundles of phenomena. First, the mankind’s
abilities to produce, store, process, and transmit digitally coded information have grown
exponentially for several decades. The celebrated Moore’s Law refers to the ability to pack
transistors in an integrated circuit ever more densely; similar “laws” have been ongoing in
several other relevant domains (with the notable exception of battery efficiency). The economic
outcome of these engineering feats has been that the global volume of data, and capabilities to
exploit it, has roughly doubled every one to two years. A feature of this exponential growth is
that initially modest increments eventually become huge, like the doubling of the number of rice
grains on a chess-board. This may be illustrated with this anecdote: “According to Benedict
Evans of Andreessen Horowitz, the new iPhones sold over the weekend of their release in
September 2014 contained 25 times more computing power than the whole world had at its
disposal in 1995.” 57
Second, there are three important phenomena that were virtually unknown to global masses of
people just a decade ago: cloud computing, mobile internet, and social media. Kushida et al.
discuss how “cloud” transforms computing from a scarce to an abundant resource. 58 They note
that abundant, ubiquitous, and cheap ICT resources – brought about by cloud computing and
related business dynamics – have the potential to alter competitive dynamics in most industries
also outside the core sectors. Mobile internet underlies emerging real-time and often locationbased service solutions such as Uber, a controversial but globally expanding taxi service. Even
if – in advanced markets – mobile devices and their diffusion have remained broadly-speaking
the same in the last few years, the impact of mobility continues to deepen at a surprising pace,
even in the Nordic countries. For example, in Finland, internet searches made via a mobile
device roughly quadrupled in 2013 and doubled again in 2014. Some see social media as a
waste of time, but if people globally spend in excess on one billion hours every day on
something (from effectively nil a decade ago), it is bound to be a major societal force. And even
though we continue to proxy social media by Facebook, Twitter, and perhaps a few others, the
phenomenon is expanding more rapidly than what we readily observe. For instance, in certain
contexts Facebook and Twitter are dwarfed by WhatsApp, an online messaging service,
although it is not even characterized to be a part of social media.
Third, the digital revolution that has so far largely lived on “screens” is starting to mesh with
our physical surroundings. Robotics is hardly a new phenomenon, but they have recently gained
better senses (sensors) and become much more intelligence (software algorithms; processing
capacity). At the same time the quality-adjusted price of a robot has plummeted; previously very
57
58
The Economist (3 Jan. 2015), http://v.gd/U0h57t
Kushida, Murray, and Zysman (2015).
48
expensive robotic lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners have become mass-consumer products. A
bundle of technologies known as 3D printing or additive manufacturing holds a promise of
turning the world of physical objects in a fully-personalized on-demand infofacturing. With
internet of things, or even “of everything”, 59 we can make increasingly complete virtual model
of our physical world, which in turn opens of host of new business opportunities.
The above three interrelated bundle forces have a few aspects in common. Each of them is
undeniably a major global phenomenon. Each of them has experienced huge changes in the last
decade and is evolving rapidly. And they all relate to underlying hardware and software. Yet,
they are all just enablers; they only have a social impact, if they are embedded into day-to-day
lives of individuals and organizations in such a way that behaviors and structures are adjusted to
reflect the possibilities that have opened with technological advance. Because this complementing non-digital human-centric investment is quite large, perhaps ten time as large as the needed
digital investment, 60 and because people and organizations often take years or even decades to
fully adjust, the full impact of the recent tsunami of technological advance will unfold in the
next two to three decades; even if one would (wrongly) assume no further scientific and
technological advance to take place.
The disruption, caused by the convergence and the nexus of forces, end the “technology
hegemony” that previously characterized the ICT sector. With the disruption, business models
and user needs are the focal points; technology is seen as a tool.
ICT sector in Sweden was in considerable difficulty in the early 2000s. With these difficulties,
the Swedish ICT sector was forced to explore new opportunities – effectively it entered the
post-disruption world as the disruption itself was unfolding. At the same time in the early 2000s,
the Finnish ICT sector experienced an unprecedented boom associated with Nokia’s growing
dominance in mobile handsets. Finland was forced into the post-disruption world only after
Nokia’s collapse in 2008/9. With the above-mentioned difference in timing, and due to the
structural differences in the respective sectors, Finland and Sweden now find themselves in
different trajectories. Sweden has adapted/recovered quite well, whereas Finland is in the midst
of making necessary adjustments.
3.7
Main observations
The size of the Swedish ICT sector is gigantic compared to the Finnish ICT sector in absolute
terms – it has six times more firms and employs twice more workers. In comparison to the total
economic activity by country, the differences, however, mainly vanish. The share of ICT in total
value added is in the both countries, for instance, at the level of 5–6%. In relative terms the ICT
sector’s role in regard to employment, exports and R&D has been declining in both economies
during the last decade.
Regarding the employment of sub-sectors of ICT, striking differences between the countries are
the high share of ICT consulting firms in Sweden and ICT maintenance firms in Finland,
59
60
Evans (2012).
Brynjolfsson and Hitt (2000).
49
respectively. In both countries, incumbent firms are dominant employers. As employers the
relative role of younger firms is larger in Finland and the relative role of micro- and small-sized
firms in Sweden, respectively. During the years 2008–2012 the Finnish ICT sector lost over
10,000 jobs, mostly due to Nokia, whereas in the Swedish ICT sector created about 4,000 jobs.
The main labor market effects have been occurring in the continuing firms; the employment
effect of exiting and entering firms has been in range of 10-14% in both countries. By subsector, dynamic labor market effects have been the most significant in ICT consulting and
software in Sweden and in IC manufacturing and software in Finland.
50
4
The historical evolution of the
Finnish ICT sector
Petri Rouvinen and Pekka Ylä-Anttila
National regulation, policies, and even politics, played a crucial role in the early history of
the Finnish ICT sector. Subsequently Nordic, European, and ultimately global developments grew more important. The move from analog to digital technology in mobile
telecommunications – that coincided with worldwide de-regulation and liberalization of
telecom operation – was Finland’s big break into the global ICT markets, which was
capitalized handsomely.
4.1
A rocky ride
In 1990, Finland was one of the least ICT-specialized industrial countries; in the following
decade, it became the most ICT-intensive countries in the world. 61 As far as its specialization in
ICT-providing industries is concerned, Finland is now only somewhat above the OECD
average. Finland’s industrial specialization has shifted back towards its traditional strengths in
forestry and engineering. As seen in Chapter 1, however, Finland nevertheless has the highest
economy-wide share of ICT specialist in total employment.
In the early 1990s, Finland was on the brink of bankruptcy. The ICT sector had a major role in
lifting the country. In 2015, Finland is again facing severe cyclical and structural difficulties,
which in part are attributable to unfavorable developments in the ICT sector. While the ICT
sector is again making a positive contribution for the Finnish economy, it is unlikely to become
the engine of growth it once was. A single company, Nokia, has made a uniquely large
contribution to the Finnish economy in the past two decades. In 2015, Nokia’s contribution to
the Finnish GDP, without the handset business that was acquired by Microsoft, is sizable 0.5%.
The Finnish ICT sector’s history dates back to the late 19th century, and is closely knit to the
country’s evolution from a resource-driven to a knowledge-based economy. In order to
understand the current turmoil in ICT and assess the future prospects, one has to take a longer
view not only to the history of the sector itself, but also to the economy as whole.
The forces that have shaped the evolution of the ICT sector include: regulation and market
structure, links between different industries reinforcing each other, interplay between private
and public sector, institutions, technological innovations, industrial policies, corporate strategies
– and a chance. Finland as a country and Nokia as a company got a few lucky breaks – the fact
that Finland was well-place when opportunity knocked had nothing to do with luck.
61
Koski, Rouvinen, and Ylä-Anttila (2002).
51
4.2
Decisive role of regulation and competition
The early development of the Finnish ICT industry relates to telephony operation. Unlike in
most countries, telephony was never a state monopoly in Finland. In addition to a public
telephone operator (PTO), which was primarily in charge of long-distance and international
operation, licenses were held by a large number of private companies that operated local
networks.
This peculiar market structure can be traced back to the 1880s and to the Finnish Senate’s desire
to circumvent telegraph regulations of the Imperial Russia, under the reign of which Finland
was at that time. The multi-operator market structure served not only in strengthening the
independence struggle of the then semi-autonomous Finnish grand duchy, but it also had
unintended implications for the future development of the Finnish ICT sector.
The dual market structure, consisting of the smaller private companies on one side, and the
PTO-regulator on the other, created fruitful tensions, competition, and threat of losing locally
strong market position. During the first decades of network construction, the PTO used its
mandate as a regulatory body to take over poorly performing private operators. This threat
induced technical competition and upgrading in the private networks. However, it should be
noted that there was no actual market competition between operators, as their licenses granted
them local monopolies.
Later on, starting in the 1960s, the private telephony operators intensified their demands on the
liberalization of increasingly interesting new telecommunications services (e.g., fax, and later,
analogue mobile services) that were under the monopoly right of the PTO. A series of
amendments to the still operative imperial Telephone Decree of 1886 were made between 1987
and 1994, which liberalized the Finnish market among the very first in the world.
However, market competition started later, in 1988, when the private operators decided to
construct a mobile network without a license, relying on ultimately getting one. They chose the
newly developed digital GSM standard that was not yet commercialized anywhere else in the
world. In 1990, the license was granted, after an intensive political debate on the viability of
parallel networks in a small country, and the digital mobile service was commercialized next
year among the very first in the world.
The long tradition in a “dual” market structure provided a basis for balanced competition from
the outset of liberalization: transitory regulation to induce equitable competition between the
incumbent and the entrants was not needed in Finland. Further competition was induced, as the
association of private operators started to break up. Virtual operators and foreign companies
also entered the market. Liberalization lowered rapidly and significantly the general price level
of telecommunications. Together with more affordable phones, mobile communications started
to take off.
In addition to the special market structure, there was another distinguishing feature in the
Finnish telecom market: equipment provision in Finland was open to foreign manufacturers
from early on. Unlike in countries with an equipment manufacturing monopoly, e.g., France,
52
and Germany, there was no public interest in protecting domestic supply. Independent operators
were free to choose among different suppliers, and thereby put small local manufacturers under
competitive pressure.
The multi-operator market attracted leading foreign equipment manufacturers such as Bell,
Ericsson, and Siemens, to Finland to test their latest technology in small scale. Private
companies, usually co-operatives, acquired advanced technical know-how. These
knowledgeable customers proved valuable for the emerging domestic equipment industry later
when it started to develop new telecommunications technology.
4.3
Knowledge complementarities and collaboration
The Finnish ICT was initiated around 1920 in three separate organizations that were finally
merged in 1987 under the management of Nokia. The original companies had somewhat
different focus areas at the outset: Salora concentrated on the resale of radio and TV sets;
Suomen Kaapelitehdas focused on cables and electricity production; and the radio laboratory
controlled by the Ministry of Defense, later named Televa, started out with military radio
systems.
In 1963, a call for tenders issued by the Finnish army for a battlefield radio spurred companies
to give physical expression to their accumulated expertise. Ultimately, the army did not have the
resources to purchase the system. But the prototypes served as the forerunners of commercial
portable phones. Also, state agencies, including the telecommunications administrator, the state
railways, and the coastguard, with their demanding communications requirements, had a major
influence on companies' product development efforts.
The Auto Radio Puhelin (ARP, car radio phone) network was introduced in 1971 as the first
mobile telephone network in the country to provide nationwide service. It provided good
geographical coverage but was not technologically sophisticated. In the mid-1970s, the service
had some ten thousand subscribers. Finnish radio phone manufacturing gained a substantial
market share across the Nordic countries. Although ARP did not turn mobile communications
into a major business, it provided experience and customer interfaces for companies such as
Nokia, Salora and Televa. It also indicated that there was commercial potential in mobile
services.
In network systems, development was intense but yielded little sales revenue. In fact, it was
other electronics applications, such as TV sets, computers, and industrial process control
systems that dominated commercial electronics up until the late 1980s. The adoption of
semiconductor technology in the 1960s served as the basis for electronics development.
Coupled with pioneering product development in digital transmission and digital signal
processing, it produced knowledge that proved pivotal for Finland's later success in digital
telecommunications.
The development of the analog Nordisk Mobil Telefon (NMT, Nordic Mobile Telephone)
standard in the 1970s was one very valuable outcome of the traditional cooperation between
Nordic telecommunications administrators and industry. It aimed at creating a Nordic market
53
for mobile telephony and inducing competition. The standard development project was open to
third-country suppliers as well. Openness promoted competition with regard to network
equipment and handsets. Advanced features such as roaming were included and, fortunately, the
diffusion-promoting “caller pays” practice was also adopted.
In the early 1980s, the Nordic countries constituted the largest mobile communication market
worldwide in terms of the number of subscribers. Mobira, a joint venture of Nokia and Salora,
supplied the first NMT portable phones. In contrast, Finnish companies were neither ready nor
willing to supply network technology in the early phase of the NMT project. Eventually, under
pressure from the PTO, which was keen to curb the market power of Ericsson and rein in
equipment prices in general, Mobira, and later Tele-Nokia, started to manufacture network
equipment. 62
In 1988, the telecommunication authorities in the European Community published the Groupe
Spécial Mobile standard (GSM, digital global system for mobile communication). The
technological challenges surrounding GSM related primarily to the digitization of radio
transmissions and to the exponential increase in the complexity of the signaling and control
software. These were fields in which Nokia had accumulated competencies working with its
customers in the advanced banking sector. Consequently, this expertise gave it an entry ticket to
the standard development project. 63
At the same time, Nokia reorganized its telecom divisions to cater to the envisioned GSM-based
growth in cellular systems, and to help meet the deadline for the inauguration of the GSM
Service in Europe in 1991. The tight deadline was met in Finland when the world's first GSM
call was placed in June 1991, even though the pan-European launch of the service was delayed
due to technical problems. Nokia and Ericsson were among the first companies to adopt GSM,
which eventually became almost universally accepted.
On the operator side, the PTO had a monopoly of the NMT service. Owing to the lucrative
nature of the mobile market, the private camp applied for a second license, but without success.
In 1988, it decided, on the basis of a regulatory loophole, to construct a mobile network without
a national license. This private venture chose the newly developed GSM standard, which was
not yet in commercial use anywhere in the world. In 1990, a license was finally granted to a
newly established company, Radiolinja, after an intensive political debate on the viability of
parallel networks in a small country. The digital mobile service was commercialized the
following year by Nokia, which thus made its global GSM debut with Radiolinja’s network.
The PTO followed suit in a partnership with Ericsson.
The mobile market entrant started to erode mobile service pricing. Soon, Finnish mobile
services were the least expensive in the world. Fueled by more affordable portable phones,
which were gradually replacing common auto phones, mobile communications was adopted by
the masses.
62
63
Palmberg (2002).
Palmberg and Martikainen (2003).
54
Although the foundations of domestic equipment manufacturing were laid in the 1920s, foreign
manufacturers dominated the market up until the 1980s. During the 1970s and 1980s, Finland
made rapid advances in digital and mobile technologies. Nokia participated in these developments and, since the 1970s, has become a central force in the consolidation of the industry. By
the late 1980s, a fair part of the Finnish telecommunications equipment industry had merged
under the aegis of Nokia.
The merger of Nokia (originally a timber-grinding mill), Suomen Kaapelitehdas (Finnish Cable
Works) and Suomen Gummitehdas (Finnish Rubber Works) in 1967 can be regarded as the birth
of Nokia that exists today. Although the forestry-based company lent the name, the cable
company provided the core knowledge base for the new entity. In 1960, this unit had established
an electronics department reselling computers, providing computing services, and also manufacturing some its own electronic devices. It also assumed an important role in educating its
own staff, and Finns more generally, in the area of digital technologies.
Nokia was still pursuing a conglomerate strategy in the 1980s and made several sizable
acquisitions in consumer electronics (e.g., Swedish Luxor in 1984 and German Standard
Elektrik Lorenz in 1987), information systems (e.g., Ericsson Information Systems in 1988) and
other fields not directly related to telecommunications. Indeed, Nokia was the biggest
manufacturer of personal computers and color TV sets in the Nordic countries and ranked
among the top 10 in Europe. This conglomerate strategy partly explains Nokia’s role in merging
the various businesses of Salora, Suomen Kaapelitehdas, and Televa.
The conglomerate strategy was, however, not a success story. Exacerbated by managerial and
ownership problems and the early 1990s recession, it plunged the company into a deep crisis.
Nokia almost went bankrupt in the early 1990s, primarily as a consequence of its overly
ambitious and costly acquisition and internationalization strategy. In 1992, Jorma Ollila became
the CEO. Under his leadership, the course changed and activities outside mobile communications were divested. This process was completed by the late 1990s.
With the exception of UK-based Technophone, Europe’s second-largest mobile phone
manufacturer at the time (in 1991), Nokia largely avoided acquisitions in its rapid expansion in
the 1990s. Alliances were nevertheless important from early on. In handsets, Nokia established
joint ventures with America's Tandy and engaged in private labeling with Tandy-owned Radio
Shack, AT&T and others. On the network side, it initially partnered with Alcatel (France) and
AEG (Germany) to provide GSM solutions.
Nokia’s global mobile phone market share peaked at 41% in 2006. Apple’s first iPhone was
announced in January 2007, but the kiss of death for Nokia’s phones was rather Google’s
strategic response to iPhone, Linux-based Android. Nokia had first developed Linux-based
Maemo to be its new mobile phone operating system after Symbian, but later this effort was
merged with Intel’s similar Merlin to form MeeGo (now developed by Sailfish). Nokia launched
one favorably-received MeeGo phone but at that point it had already chosen Microsoft’s
Windows Phone as its sole operating system in high-end phones. Ultimately, Nokia saved the
remainder of the company by selling its mobile phone business to Microsoft in September 2013.
55
Nokia rode the wave of exploding global mobile telecommunication markets, fueled by
worldwide deregulation in telecommunications. Thanks to its narrowly defined and globally
oriented strategy, it was able to meet the market challenge somewhat better than its closest
competitors. In the 1990s, its management was able to build an innovation-driven culture and
supportive organizational structure, flexibly exploiting both internal and external networking. In
the course of the 2000s, Nokia crew bureaucratic. It failed to develop a mobile operating system
and ecosystem that could compete with the offerings of Apple/iOS, Google/Android, and
Microsoft/Windows. And since Microsoft’s mobile ecosystem failed to gain traction, Nokia had
to divest its handset business.
A closer look at ICT manufacturing in Finland suggests that the competencies, skills, and
systems built to serve traditional Finnish industrial strongholds – pulp and paper making,
metals, and industrial chemicals – proved invaluable in developing ICTs. Especially process
control systems include a lot of similarities, links and even technical solutions with ICT
systems.
Hence, the existence of complementary, rather than competing, technical knowledge and skills
in the various firms and public organizations led to intensive collaboration in R&D, production
and also marketing. Especially noteworthy joint ventures include mobile handsets and digital
switching. These joint ventures were founded in the late 1970s. They were very important for
consolidating limited resources in a competitive industry.
4.4
Public-private linkages
The development of the NMT standard in the 1970s was a highly valuable outcome of the
traditional cooperation of Nordic telecommunications administrators and industry. It aimed at
creating a Nordic market for mobile telephony and inducing competition. The standard
development project was open to third-country suppliers as well. Openness promoted
competition in network equipment and handsets.
Early on, NMT provided critical mass and relatively high penetration rates, which led to early
recovery of development costs as well as accumulation of knowledge and scale economies.
Many sorts of network benefits in both production and consumption were obvious.
The role of technology programs funded and coordinated by Tekes should also be recognized.
Although technology and industrial policies have predominantly played an indirect, conditionsproviding role, for the emergence of the ICT cluster, the importance and high priority of sector
has been acknowledged in policy initiatives. Many technology programs funded and commissioned by Tekes especially in the mid-1980s contributed to the initial growth stage of the
sector.
The role of Nokia as the industrial engine in ICT was recognized and harnessed throughout
networks of firms participating in the technology programs. This is compatible with clusterbased industrial policies that seek to internalize externalities related to new technology fields.
56
Of course, competition policies, notably liberalizing the telecom market very early on, have had
a considerable bearing on the sector. Trade policies and openness to the world market has been
the very basis of the growth and productivity in all industries, not least in the ICT.
Without liberalizing the capital market in 1990s the ICT cluster would not have grown as fast as
it did. In spite of many side effects and misfortunes of the liberalization the implications for ICT
sector’s expansion remain very important.
4.5
Towards more diverse sectoral structure
The recent history of the Finnish ICT sector is full of dramatic turns. The dominance of one
company, Nokia, has drastically changed and its importance for the Finnish economy
diminished very quickly. The global ICT landscape has transformed in almost all respects – key
players come from the United States – particularly the Silicon Valley – and Asia, rather than
Europe, manufacturing of ICT equipment has been relocated to lower-cost regions, digital
services are driving the sector’s growth and restructuring.
Finland was the last country in Western Europe to host a mobile handset plant. Nokia’s plant in
Salo was closed in 2013, which marked an end of a highly successful era. The plant was the
most important site of Nokia in the early 1990s, and a large one even in global perspective.
Later it was an important site for developing production processes and technologies, but also
experimenting with new devices. By the early 2000s, it had become a relatively small unit
having only marginal role in Nokia’s world-wide production network. The core of Nokia’s
phone business in Finland was in R&D, design, marketing, and headquarters activities. From the
Finnish national economy’s vantage the intangible assets – brand, IPRs, management skills –
had become Nokia’s core. While ICT manufacturing shrunk, exports of ICT services continued
to expand.
The most dramatic event in the recent history of the Finnish ICT is Microsoft’s acquisition of
Nokia’s phone business in September 2013. The deal was completed in early 2014. In 2015,
Nokia sold its only remaining part directly related to handset business, the HERE business unit
build around digital maps, to German automotive manufacturers. Currently Microsoft is
downsizing its mobile phone unit, which will have severe consequences in Finland. Mobile
phones continue to be developed in Finland but the activity is takes place either in local
subsidiaries of Huawei or other major manufacturers or relates to development of “boutique”
phones such as the London phone for Marshall, which is best-known for its guitar amplifiers.
With Huawei and Ericsson, Nokia is currently among the biggest providers of mobile telephony
network equipment and services. In September 2015, Nokia is in talks to acquire Alcatel-Lucent.
Should the deal go through, the new Nokia would probably still remain behind Huawei and
Ericsson in terms of market share, but the three companies would be within a few percentage
points of each other.
57
4.6
A summary of factors behind the Finnish ICT boom
The ICT boom in Finland from early 1990s until about 2008 was most exceptional especially
from a national but also from an international perspective. In this section we discuss factors that
supported the boom.
A break with the past
For Finland, the recession of the early 1990s provided a decisive break with the past. It fostered
a pragmatic and straightforward culture in both politics and business. Faced with deep
recession, the Finns simply could not afford inflexibility or bureaucracy. Thanks to the country's
stable political environment and social cohesion, political institutions remained functional. The
necessary policy adjustments could therefore be made even during the crisis.
Vast unemployment in the 1990s gave the emerging ICT cluster the large recruitment pool it
needed for its expansion. The public educational system also responded to ICT-related needs.
Furthermore, the collapse of eastward trade with the Soviet Union freed up resources that firms
could then channel into developing ICT (including GSM) and pursuing the subsequent
expansion.
Relaxed capital constraints
The liberalization of global markets for goods, services, capital and technology, triggered by
developments in the United Kingdom and the United States in the late 1970s, led to a
globalization boom in the mid-1980s. As a result of this globalization and concurrent Europewide liberalization efforts, Finnish companies gained access to new markets and became
increasingly exposed to global competition.
Lack of capital was long regarded as the Achilles’ heel of the Finnish economy. This realization
was instrumental to the liberalization of capital markets in the 1980s and to relaxed capital
constraints in the early 1990s. After deregulation and Finland’s accession to the European
Economic Area (EEA) and the EU, larger Finnish companies in particular gained direct access
to foreign investors. A huge influx of capital to Finland followed in the mid-1990s and, for a
couple of years, the Helsinki Stock Exchange was the most international one in the world,
measured by the share of market value held by foreigners.
The Finnish financial system moved away from a bank-centered system in the mid-1990s, when
the stock market grew and indirect debt finance contracted as a result of the banking crisis in the
early 1990s. Greater availability of venture capital has been especially important to small
Finnish ICT firms, which apparently have a need to maintain conservative leverage ratios.64
Technological opportunity
Digitization was a major technological breakthrough in voice and data storage, processing, and
transmission. This was important for Finland, as it provided an opportunity for new players with
neither experience nor vested interests in computing or communication. Finland had sufficient
64
Hyytinen & Pajarinen (2005).
58
expertise in digital technologies in general and in telecommunications in particular, both of
which were vital to the big GSM breakthrough.
Radio technology, in addition to a profound understanding of telecommunications, was one of
the prerequisites for building a mobile telephone system. Finnish university-level education in
radio technology had started in the early 1920s. Radio technology lurked in the shadows in
many Finnish firms well before being channeled into commercial applications.
Winning standards
Telecommunications standardization in the Nordic and European contexts may be the single
biggest factor that explains the Finnish ICT success story. Finland was an early adopter of first
NMT and then GSM, both of which eventually proved to be the winning technologies in their
eras.
Early on, NMT provided critical mass and relatively high penetration rates, leading to early
recovery of development costs as well as the accumulation of hands-on knowledge and scale
economies. Many types of network benefits in both production and consumption also
accumulated.
When the transition to digital technologies came, Nokia bet heavily on GSM as the secondgeneration (2G) standard. Eventually, this technology commanded three-quarters of the
worldwide user base. Nokia managed to capitalize on its early lead in both GSM networks and
handsets.
Sophisticated demand
During and prior to the Cold War era, telecommunications operation was often considered a
natural monopoly and equipment manufacturing was largely kept nationalized for strategic
reasons. Since then, both operation and equipment markets have been almost completely
deregulated and liberalized. Finnish ICT firms, unlike many of their international competitors,
had ample experience operating in a competitive environment with diverse customer needs.
Besides having a history of telecommunications competition that dated back over a hundred
years, Finland was also some three years ahead of other industrialized countries in taking the
final steps toward completely deregulating communications markets.
In mobile telecommunications in particular, deregulation gave rise to eager second-tier
operators and service providers that wanted to deploy new networks rapidly and with a
minimum of technical problems. Former monopoly operators were forced to respond by
upgrading their networks. Competition and the resultant lower prices, fueled demand, which in
turn led to further investments. Thus, the industry indeed experienced a virtuous demand cycle
in the 1990s.
Scandinavians seem to be accustomed and therefore quite willing to test new technologies. In
the early years of mobile telecommunications, new generations of phones always caused quite a
stir and “forced” many users to shop for an upgrade. Fortunately, customer needs in these
markets preceded those elsewhere, thus giving something of a first-mover advantage to
Scandinavian firms. Finland and Sweden are also leaders in certain types of ICT usage, such as
59
online banking and mobile payments. The Scandinavian market was therefore a rather happy
marriage of technological competence in both production and use.
Cooperation and visionary management
Competition encourages efficient and lean organization. Somewhat paradoxically, cooperation
has been equally important to the success of ICT in Finland. Indeed, international comparisons
suggest that intensive inter-organizational cooperation is one of the essential features of the
Finnish national innovation system.
A diverse array, but by no means all, of Finnish communications expertise was eventually
merged into Nokia. In the 1980s, the corporation was relatively similar to some other Finnish
conglomerates. In the 1990s, however, it transformed itself into something exceptional. Despite
its roots, Nokia was able to give up its forestry-related activities and realized early on that
Soviet trade was best treated as a cash cow. Focusing on mobile communications was a bold
move on Nokia's part in the early 1990s, but one that paid off handsomely.
Supporting policies
The institutionalization and strengthening of science and technology policies began in early
1960s. Important changes that contributed to the knowledge-driven growth and expansion of the
ICT sector took place throughout the decades that followed. The main aim of these policies was
to strengthen industry's science and technology base. 65
At the start of the 1980s, technology policy became increasingly target-oriented and systematic.
Tekes was established in 1982 to coordinate public R&D support and related efforts, such as
national technology programs. Technology transfer and the commercialization of research
results were emphasized. Tekes and its programs became important instruments for implementing policies. The focus of the new agency’s operations was information technology. In
fact, two extensive information technology programs had already been initiated before Tekes
was established.
Toward the end of the 1980s, a more systemic view of policy-making was adopted. Then, in the
early 1990s, the deep recession fostered the relative importance of microeconomic policies. In
the 1990s, the Science and Technology Policy Council also introduced the national innovation
system as a basic framework for policy-making. Innovation was seen as being of a systemic
nature, contrary to the traditional linear innovation model. This enhanced cooperation between
various policy agencies and improved possibilities for making use of emerging, complex ICT.
The systemic view also highlighted the role of education in adopting, diffusing and utilizing
new technologies. 66
4.7
The way forward
Looking at the ICT sector’s history reveals that the forces shaping its evolution have greatly
varied over time. While in the early stage regulation, national policies, and even politics, played
65
66
Lemola (2002).
Georghiou et al. (2003).
60
a crucial role, later innovation and corporate strategies have had the biggest influence. Today,
the forces of globalization –unbundling of supply chains, corporate alliances, rapid development
and diffusion of new technologies, and access to global skill pools – are among the most
important factors.
For a small country globalization is primarily an opportunity, not a threat. Globalization has
nevertheless challenged existing social and economic structures, as relocation of production
needs to be compensated for via innovation and new entrepreneurial activity. While there is a
fair amount of startup activity in Finland and many established businesses are constantly
renewing, many central institutional arrangements, e.g., in the labor market, are still to be
adjusted.
The ICT leading firms have had to constantly reinvent themselves throughout the history. The
digital disruptions in the past decade have, however, been particularly drastic and most old
incumbent companies are struggling to adapt, even as the sector continues to evolve at a
feverish phase.
The history of the Finnish ICT sectors shows that even rapid and sizable transitions from one
industry to another, without sacrificing the core values of the society, are possible. It should be
noted, however, that the foundations for such transitions are built in the course of several
decades and in several special circumstances.
61
5
Understanding the Swedish saga
through an historical exposé
Eric Giertz
The industrialization, and finally the development of a competitive ICT sector, in Sweden
were formed by a complex interaction between business and governmental actions and
regulations that set the rules for different operations. The regulations as well as the
interactions and cooperation has changed considerable over time but the development
during one phase built the foundation for the next. In this chapter the development 18502005 is divided into four different phases.
5.1
Introduction
The Swedish roots to information and communication technology can be traced to the rise of the
telecommunications industry and the telecom operators in the late 1800s, as well as the tentative
attempts to establish a Swedish computer industry in the early 1950s. The development of what
we now perceive as the ICT industry was initiated, in essence, first in the 1950s. This development took place in the post-war corporatist Swedish society, which was characterized by a very
close cooperation and interaction between government, industry and trade unions as well as
between research, higher education, utilities and the Swedish export industry. Before we move
on to the concrete development in the 1950s, it is necessary to briefly describe the development
of the Swedish industry and the character of the Swedish corporatist society 67.
5.2
1850-1920 Liberal reforms, industrialization and
entrepreneurship
Until the mid-1800s Sweden was relatively untouched by the incipient industrialization in other
parts of Europe. Liberal ideas that had taken root elsewhere had not left any deep traces in
Swedish society, but in the mid-1800s a series of liberal reforms were implemented. Alongside
Sweden introduced the right for any citizen to establish firms and free trade was introduced;
import and export ban was lifted, and both foodstuffs and raw materials were completely duty
free. At the same time a new banking law was added, which led to the establishment of new
commercial banks. These attracted capital which was loaned to an expanding industry.
Predecessor was A.O. Wallenberg, who founded Stockholms Enskilda Bank already in 1856.
The number of commercial banks peaked in 1908. Then there were 84 companies 68.
The liberal reform period in the mid-1800s ended with the reform of political life. The political
new order brought new men to the representative bodies. Conservative groups (nobility, clergy,
67
68
This whole chapter draws on Giertz (Ed) (2008)
Lindgren (2008) p. 87
62
bourgeois and peasants) lost their former privileges and were replaced by more liberal forces
which advocated industrial development. The state also took on new commitments, which were
financed by large borrowings abroad. These included development of communications, which
improved dramatically from the mid-1800s 69. A novelty was the electric telegraph. A telegraph
agency (Telegrafverket) was established in 1853 to build a state-owned national telegraph
system. That same year the Stockholm-Uppsala telegraph line was in use for public traffic.
Another novelty was the railroad. In 1853 parliament decided to build a nationwide railway.
From the start the railway network was planned as a nationwide transport system. The state built
a network of trunk lines but left it to private railroad companies to build the ramified
connections. In 1880 there was a total of 6,000 kilometers railway in the country, of which
2,000 were owned by the state and controlled by Swedish Rail (SJ). So in constructing the
nationwide railway system governmental initiatives were combined with local private
entrepreneurship. For telephony, as well as electricity, on the other hand the exploitation started
almost invariably by local initiatives.
Sweden takes the lead in telecommunication 70
In 1880 the Stockholm Bell Telephone Company established the first telephone network in
Sweden with just over one hundred subscribers. The phone was at this time a system for local
communication with a range of up to ten kilometers. The contrast was great against the
telegraph, which already was a worldwide communication system. The Bell Company focused
on public institutions, companies and the most affluent businessmen. The business idea was that
with a relatively small investment build small telephone networks for a small number of
subscribers, who paid high subscription fees. Bell Company thus saw the phone as a service for
a small elite. It applied the same concept in many other cities in the US and in Europe. In most
places, the company could pursue this line in that it had a monopoly on telephone technology.
But in Stockholm the Bell Company, which lacked a patent in Sweden, was challenged. The
engineer and entrepreneur Henrik Tore Cedergren responded to the Bell Company’s pricing
policy. He felt that the phone should also be aimed at households. He established a competing
telephone company in 1883, Stockholms Allmänna Telefonaktiebolag (the Stockholm Public
Telephone Company), which purchased all technical input from a newly founded engineering
company, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, which also supplied some spare parts to the stateowned national telegraph agency. Stockholms Allmänna challenged the Bell Company by
offering significantly lower subscription fees. Bell company responded by lowering their fees.
The intense competition between the companies led to a rapid increase in the number of
subscribers. In 1885, there were 5,000 telephone sets in Stockholm, which was more than in any
other city in the world at this time!
In Sweden almost free establishment of local telephone networks prevailed during the telephony
childhood. Neither state nor municipal authorities put obstacles in the way. The result was that
not only in Stockholm, but also in Gothenburg and some other major cities, several competing
telephone companies were established. In this regard Sweden differed from most other
69
70
Kaijser (2008:1)
This section draws on Kaijser (2008:1)
63
countries. In smaller cities cooperative telephone compounds often formed. In 1885, there were
about 50 local networks and in 1890 the number of telephone networks had grown to 400.
During the first years of the 1880s telephone technology gradually improved. It became possible
to make phone calls at distances up to 100 kilometers. During the end of the decade the single
wire was replaced with double wire, which allowed telephone calls of up to 1 000 kilometers.
Telephony began to get the character of a nationwide infrastructure system. The Swedish
Parliament decided that the telephone system should be organized and regulated in a similar
way to the railway system. The state would be responsible for national lines, which were
perceived as a general interest. But unlike in most other European countries, the Parliament
never gave a monopoly on the telephone to the Telegraph Agency. The Parliament wanted to
uphold the right of local associations and private companies to operate local and regional
networks. The Swedish railway system was working as a model when the Parliament made its
decision.
A belated but rapid industrialization
The liberal reforms, the freedom to start new companies, a political new order and free trade –
which was introduced in the mid-1800s – put, along with investments in infrastructure and a
new banking law, the foundations for a belated but rapid industrialization in Sweden. New
manufacturers produced food, agricultural implements and textiles for the home market. Borås
converted from a marketplace to a textile city, and Norrköping became the center for the wool
industry. The first steam sawmill began operating in Ådalen in 1849 and was quickly followed
by more. Thus the export of sawn timber grew. A new industrial capitalism flourished, which
hardly resembled the traditional and stable social structure. Parallel many new successful export
companies in the pulp and paper, steel and engineering industries were born during the second
half of the 1800s.
Towards the end of the 1800s internationalism and free trade ideals did indeed give way to the
rise of nationalism, but industrial production still pushed further momentum and increased
prosperity. Exports tripled around the turn of the century, thanks mainly to the success of the
pulp and paper industry as well as the engineering industry. But the increase in trade came to an
abrupt end during the First World War. Engineering companies however were compensated
since they benefited from an increasing domestic demand in the expanding war economy. They
were very profitable and many integrated backwards and increased their leverage through large
investments in e.g. the electrification of the operation. Some of the banks also combined their
lending to investing companies with buying new issued preference shares through their newly
formed investment companies.
5.3
1920-1970 Consolidation, centralization and corporatism
During World War I and the years immediately following inflation rates went up. The prices
quadrupled in 1913 to1920. But the inflationary period was followed by a deep depression and a
tough deflationary monetary policy, which led to prices again halved in two years. Companies
that during the war had issued new preference shares and borrowed money from the banks
ended up in difficulties. They still had their big debts, but the assets no longer corresponded to
64
purchase values. They were also confronted with an extremely tough market. Many engineering
companies, which had been favored by the war economy, lacked customers when they would
switch from military to civilian markets. Other companies, including L.M. Ericsson, also had
their assets confiscated in Russia after the revolution.
Ownership is concentrated to a few financial spheres
During 1920 to 1922 liquidations and bankruptcies succeeded each other, which led to large
transfers of ownership in Swedish industry. Also many individuals were driven into bankruptcy
and livelihoods deteriorated in the short term for a large majority of the population. Unemployment was widespread. In early 1922, a third of the members of LO (Sweden’s combined blue
collar union) were unemployed. But from the rubble grew a new competitive export industry.
Many company founders; entrepreneurs and engineers lost their businesses. But in came new
owners; commercial banks and financiers. The number of commercial banks had peaked in 1908
and through mergers they were fewer after the war. It was therefore a relatively small number of
dominant ownership spheres within the Swedish financial circles who came to answer for the
reconstruction. The control of the iron and steel industry, the pulp and paper industry and the
expanding engineering industry gathered at a small number of hands, which became even less
after the Kreuger crash and a new depression in the beginning of the 1930s. In 1934 a very large
part of the Swedish export industries was controlled by less than a dozen financial spheres.
The new principal owners of Swedish export industries were interested in implementing
consolidation and structural changes in the half-century old export industries. They were also
eager to expand the markets and start rationalization and streamlining in the companies that had
ended up in their enclosures. They recruited rationalization oriented engineers to the company's
leading positions. The new executives were more industry strategists than former inventors and
entrepreneurs. After the First World War the profile of Swedish business leaders changed. You
no longer became a CEO in a large company by starting or inheriting a business, but by
educating yourself and making a civil service career to a profession of a business leader. Under
the new leaders, many of the existing companies would develop very positively. But industrial
development in our country was after the mid-1930s more about rationalization, restructuring
and internationalization of existing businesses. More rarely, about creating or establishing new
ventures. It was mainly within already established Swedish companies that one would come to
pick up innovations and establish new product areas.
Government increases its grip on infrastructure
While the export industry consolidated and rationalized there was an apparent consolidation also
in the infrastructure area. Government increased its grip on the infrastructure71. It took, through
the establishment of Vattenfall in 1909, first responsibility for regional power generation and
then the deployment of a nationwide transmission grid. Even greater became the governmental
responsibility for the railways. In 1938 a decision was made on the nationalization of all the
private railways in Sweden. Swedish Rail (SJ) was then a national railway monopoly in the
whole country. Telegrafverket successively acquired all local phone associations and telephone
71
This section draws on Kaijser (2008:2)
65
companies. In 1918, the acquisition was finally made of Stockholms Allmänna Telefonaktiebolag. Telegrafverket (later Televerket) thus created a nationwide de facto monopoly in the
telephony field and turned to a kind of Swedish PTT. From the 1930s the government did chose
to direct and control the expansion and tariffs so that companies and people in all parts of
Sweden were given access to the infra services on almost equal terms.
It was not only the control over the Swedish industry and infrastructure that was centralized in
the 1930s. After the 1936 election the political power in Sweden was gathered in the reformist
labor movement's hands. The Social Democrats began, under the leadership of Per Albin
Hansson, to build the Swedish welfare society. Already before 1936 Per Albin Hansson had
built very close, but discrete, personal contacts with some of the most important owners and
CEOs in Swedish industry 72. The social democratic visions included the creation of an efficient
and streamlined Swedish export industry. They also desired a peaceful labor market and the
avoidance of blockades, boycotts and strikes. Efficient manufacturing processes and a
competitive export industry was seen as the foundation of the social democratic vision for a
future welfare society. It was the foundation that would allow for increased living standards for
a large majority of the Swedish people.
A corporatist Swedish society is born
The new industrial owners and industry leaders' interests coincided largely with the reformist
labor movement. After the election in 1936 the leading representatives of the large Swedish
corporations chose to abandon their previous negative attitude to the Social Democrats. They
decided instead to cooperate with the two branches of the reformist labor movement in Sweden;
the workers union (LO) and the government. They could also gather around the common
interest of a rational economy. After the 1936 LO Congress the reformist trade unions also took
an active responsibility for the development of a more competitive Swedish industry and
promoted rationalization; consolidation as well as automation and work study. Negotiations
were started with the Employers' Confederation (SAF). A master treaty, the so-called
"Saltsjöbaden Agreement", was signed in 1938. The agreement gave the central organizations,
SAF and LO, increased influence and acted in a clearly centralist direction.
The rapprochement between the central organizations on the labor market was followed by
cooperation between government and industry. The outbreak of the Second World War in the
fall of 1939 gave an extra boost to the corporate efforts in Sweden. Closures and refurbishment
of defense also contributed to the close collaboration between the state and parts of the industry.
The government introduced special military taxes and took out war loans, which allowed very
large and rapid increases in public spending. These were channeled largely to the Swedish
engineering industry, whose technically advanced products gained an increasingly important
role in military defense. During the war, there was a pronounced spirit of cooperation both at the
political level and between the parties on the labor market. Laws, including regulations about
working hours and holidays, were breached and overtime and shift work became much more
common. At the same time new regulations about official duty made strikes and conflicts
72
Isaksson (2008)
66
impossible. During the war there also was in essence a wage freeze even in the expanding and
lucrative engineering industry.
The good relations persisted after the war. The Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson, who died in
1946, had replaced the socialist dogmatism for a role as pragmatic father of the nation. This was
also true for his predecessor, Tage Erlander, who served as Prime Minister of Sweden and the
leader for the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1946 to 1969. The Social Democrats
disassociated themselves from further nationalizations of private industry. World War II was, in
contrast to World War I, followed by increased economic activity. Swedish industry was
blessed with increased orders. During the 1950s and 60s Swedish industry harvested major
export successes. Sweden's share of world trade rose almost dramatically, Sweden took the lead
in terms of economic growth. The export industry increased its share of employment and was
the driving force in the whole of the Swedish society.
The flourishing Swedish export industry laid the foundations of the welfare society that
emerged in the decades after World War II. It created the preconditions in terms of economic
growth and employment and contributed, both directly and indirectly, to the financing of the
growing public sector. The export industry's success was therefore not only a concern for
business owners and leaders, but equally for the Social Democratic government and the labor
movement. In the late 1960s, Sweden was one of the world's richest countries and the Swedish
welfare society attracted international attention. In a relatively short time broad population
groups had raised their standard of living from a precarious life of poverty to a life of full
employment, relatively good income and seemingly great security. In less than half a century
the average industrial worker had tripled their real wages. In addition, he was covered by
pension insurance, medical insurance, unemployment insurance and statutory paid holiday. In
the welfare society government also took responsible for the welfare of citizens in terms of
health care, education and housing. Government reallocated resources, through taxes and
charges, between different stages of life, between rich and poor and between those who worked
and those unemployed or unable to work.
There was a national consensus that laid the foundations of the welfare society. The development was driven systematically by central representatives of government, industry and trade
unions in the context of a very centrally and informally managed corporately social system. This
was based on a clear division of roles between government, industry and trade unions.
Some characteristics of the corporatist Swedish society
The Swedish industry's export success after World War II laid the foundation for full
employment. There was a shortage of labor – not a lack of work. Therefore, there was almost
total agreement in Sweden that it is desirable to systematically streamline human labor in
factories. The Swedish labor movement ensured that work and motion studies were made
compulsory in Swedish industry in 1944 to ensure that objective piecework salaries were
guaranteed throughout the engineering industry in Sweden 73.
73
See Giertz (1981)
67
The labor court (Arbetsdomstolen) ruled that piece-work times should be determined
objectively by motion and time study men. One consequence was that the Employers
Confederation and The Labor Union reached an agreement on work-study in 1948. The
companies thus not only had the right but a contractual obligation to employ motion and time
study men and to perform time and motion studies on all manual work on the shop floor.
Starting with the 1955 agreement the parties also agreed upon introducing a performance
standard based upon Methods-Time Measurement (MTM). MTM is a predetermined motion
time system to analyze the methods used to perform any manual operation or task and, as a
product of that analysis, set the standard time in which an average worker should complete that
task. MTM was launched by Maynard’s in 1948 and soon became widely spread in the Swedish
engineering industry. Thus, from 1955 the parties could check the performance appraisals and
piece-work times made by any time and motion study man against hindsight. This unique
arrangement is nowadays often overlooked in the description of the corporatist society which
created the post-war economic miracle in Sweden.
In their deliberations in Saltsjöbaden in 1938, the parties on the labor market had declined
governmental interference. To avoid governmental interference also became the main track for
three decades in the postwar labor market policies. The state legislated working hours and
holidays, but refrained in general from the regulation of employment conditions. The parties
included in the agreement that it was the employers’ right to organize, manage and freely hire
and fire employees. The agreement supported the structural changes and efficiency measures
that the Social Democrats also sought. The government on the other hand, took an active role to
facilitate labor mobility. It built up the resources to cope with the information to re-educate
people, to move people and set up employment agencies. The relatively widely accepted
"moving van policy" explicitly aimed at facilitating and supporting the restructuring and
rationalization of the Swedish industry.
In the corporatist society the Social Democrats went arm-in-arm with the owners of major
companies in Sweden. They pursued a policy that clearly favored the accumulation of capital
within established companies and disadvantaged new ventures 74. The list of listed companies at
the Stockholm stock exchange also stayed more or less unchanged from the mid-1930s to the
mid-1970s. At the same time the Social Democrats gradually tightened taxation of wealthy
individuals through the introduction of progressive income tax and wealth tax and they
increased gift and inheritance taxes. One consequence was that the dominance of the larger well
established Swedish export companies increased heavily in Swedish industry. Ideologically the
Social Democrats justified their close cooperation with the Swedish capitalists by pointing out
that large established companies became increasingly dominant. It was argued that the
individual entrepreneurship had played out its role. Consolidations and economy of scale would
eventually lead to capitalism undermining its institutional and political importance. It would
peacefully pave the way for socialism in democratic countries.
74
See Jakobsson (2008)
68
Demand-driven engineering science is introduced
The corporative consensus also included an increased governmental interest in research and
higher education. Even before World War II the technical universities started to change. The
academic engineering education was extended to four years and the teaching was made more
theoretical. Chalmers in Gothenburg became a technical university in 1937, after much
resistance from KTH in Stockholm. In parallel the earlier conflict between the more subtle
natural sciences and the more practical-oriented engineering sciences was erased.
During World War II government started to look upon engineering sciences as a national
investment 75. That thinking was inspired by Professor JD Bernal at the University of
Cambridge. He argued that engineering sciences should be more demand-driven for the benefit
of citizens, society and businesses. Gösta Malm was a driving force when the ideas gained a
foothold in Sweden. Malm had retired from Vattenfall in 1938 and he had a lot of experience
from public investigations. He was also a member of the Board at KTH and the former
chairman at The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA). He became chairman
for a committee that dealt with the higher technical education as well as one that investigated
future organization of research in engineering sciences. The two technical universities (KTH
and Chalmers) and large corporations were benefited by the model that emerged. The consensus
between the different political camps was striking. They all came to similar conclusions on how
to divide responsibilities and work between government and industry.
Consensus between government, industry and academia of the challenges that engineering
sciences were facing was reinforced by the needs created during the war and the spirit of
cooperation that followed the Saltsjöbaden Agreement trails. The investigation led by Malm
began in 1940. A first interim report was fixed at the beginning of 1942. In this the importance
of strong links between education and research at the technical universities were highlighted.
Through a special grant and larger direct grants to KTH and Chalmers research conditions for
engineering sciences in the technical universities were strengthened.
The committee further suggested that applied research linked to common needs in different
industries should be performed by specific sectorial research institutes. Each institute would be
co-funded by corporations in one specific industry along with government. The research
institutes would function as autonomous units but they were to be located next to corresponding
institutions at the technical universities, especially KTH. The interest of the companies in one
industrial sector was tied to special collective foundations, which all companies in a particular
industry could join. That a research program in an institute was jointly sanctioned by large
Swedish corporations in one industry was sufficient justification for government to put in
corresponding funding. Government completely relied on market forces – that of incumbents –
to control the direction, expansion and contraction of applied research in various fields. The
investigation led by Malm created a major expansion and upsurge of the higher education and
research in engineering sciences. The investigation also laid the foundation for a political
75
This section draws on Deiaco & Reitberger (2008)
69
consensus on governmental investments at technical universities. New public spending was
transferred to the faculty and to research councils.
During the 1950s, there was a very common optimistic belief in a better future that relied on
technological development. This belief was one reason to further increase governmental
investments in PhD studies and basic research at the technical universities. In parallel
incumbents initiated applied research programs next door. They decided on large research
projects, which were co-funded by government, in different sectorial research institutes.
Sometimes the researchers almost didn´t know who was employed by the university and who
belonged to the institute. The investigation thus laid the foundation for a Swedish university
model that was quite unique. The institute sector stayed fairly small but there were strong links
between basic research, applied research and industry. Education at technical universities was
also closely connected to research and to actual problems in industry. This created a Swedish
doctrine that was valid at least until 2000.
The close cooperation and interplay between technical universities, research institutes and
incumbents were combined with an extremely close cooperation between individual public
customers and individual private corporations. In those so-called developing couples, engineers
and technicians from both companies work side by side with research, product development and
implementation of new products and systems. This really gave way for very special conditions
for the commercialization of research and new technology in the corporatist Swedish society.
Developing couples paves the way for export industries
As mentioned earlier, after World War I government assumed greater responsibility for the
development and operation of the infra service systems in Sweden. The extension, expansion
and modernization of the infra service systems involved major technical challenges and led to a
very close relationship between public clients and the engineering corporations that supplied the
technical input.
When power generation and the nationwide transmission grid was built it was the public
company Vattenfall and the private company ASEA – the country's leading manufacturer of
electrical equipment – which jointly took on the challenge. They developed a close cooperation
in high-voltage engineering. This form of close and long-term cooperation between a private
Swedish company and a public customer has been named a developing couple. ASEA obviously
found it very valuable to constantly have a close cooperation with a demanding pilot customer.
ASEA relied a lot on Vattenfall's engineers who had great expertise in the operation of large
power systems. Additionally, ASEA could perform pilot tests with new equipment in
Vattenfall’s existing plants. It contributed greatly to ASEA in the 1950s becoming a world
leader and a successful export company in high-voltage technology. Even in the nuclear sector
ASEA got a leading position through public orders.
Developing couples played important roles in post-war Sweden. Each couple consisted of a
public client and a private engineering company, which developed, manufactured and supplied
necessary products and systems. Developing couples also arose within the railroad sector. SJ
developed a close and long-term technical cooperation both with ASEA in the electrification of
70
railroads and with LM Ericsson in developing signaling systems and equipment used for control
and security of railway traffic. During the 1950s, an indigenous development of locomotives
also started with ASEA that first resulted in thyristor converters for DC motor drives and Rc
locomotive and later in asynchronous motors and X2000 trains 76.
Perhaps the most pronounced development couple, however, was the cooperation between the
Swedish PTT, Televerket, and LM Ericsson. When Stockholms Allmänna was acquired by
Televerket in 1918 many leading engineers and technicians in the company went over to their
former supplier, LM Ericsson. Ericsson received a substantial addition of expertise that also
started to cooperate with their former competitor, Televerket. Televerket and LM Ericsson soon
initiated a very close cooperation in the development of switchboards and other important
components. In 1926 the two companies commonly launched an automated tele station with
crossbar switches that had been installed in Sundsvall.
The collaboration between Ericsson and Televerket however differed somewhat from that in
other developing couples. Televerket had since 1891 developed and manufactured their own
products and systems in Teli, an industrial division of their own. Teli's first factory was located
in Stockholm but was through a parliament decision moved to Nynäshamn in 1913. Later Teli
established new factories all over Sweden in Vänersborg, Gothenburg, Sundsvall, Kristinehamn
and Skellefteå. Since Televerket manufactured their own products they almost didn´t buy
anything from Ericsson. But Televerket and Ericsson joined forces to develop new products and
systems. Televerket and Ericsson manufactured more or less identical products for the domestic
market respectively the export markets. The close cooperation with Televerket gave LM
Ericsson a great advantage in being able both to share development costs and to quickly gain
experience from the operation of new products and components before they were launched
abroad.
There were also other developing couples of great significance, such as The Air Force and FMV
(The Materiel Administration of Swedish Armed Services) as clients and engineering
companies like Saab as suppliers.
A Swedish computer industry is born
Already in the late 1940s a computer development was initiated in the corporatist Swedish
society. The first computers had by then been developed in the United States, but for security
reasons they were not allowed to leave the country. It was the Swedish government who took
the lead in 1947 by appointing a computer investigation (Matematikmaskinutredningen).
On November 26, 1948 government established a new public agency, Matematikmaskinnämnden (MMN), which got the assignment to develop and manufacture the first Swedish
computers. Alongside Sweden, it was only England and France, who had started the
development of computers in Europe. The first computer BARK (Binär Aritmetisk
ReläKalkylator) was a relay-based computer that was completed in 1950. It was an interim
solution while awaiting the second Swedish computer, BESK (Binär Elektronisk
76
Kaijser (2008:2)
71
SekvensKalkylator), which was completed in 1953. Both computers were developed and
installed on KTH premises. BESK was for a while Europe's fastest electronic calculator. It was
used, among other things, by the National Defense but also for civil purposes, including by
SMHI and by different companies with great need for calculations.
One of the users was Saab, who had to solve large and difficult computational tasks in their
technical development. Saab soon saw the need for a computer of their own. In 1957 Saab had
completed its first computer, SARA (Saabs Räkneautomat). SARA was more or less a copy of
BESK and also based on the electron tube technology. A machine hall of several hundred
square meters was needed to make room for the new calculator. It was used for technical
computing in the development of the fighter Viggen and various robot armaments.
That a computer developed by government later was copied by a single commercial enterprise
was the most natural thing in the corporatist Swedish society. An agreement was signed in 1954
between MMN and Saab, which basically amounted to that Saab without charge could take over
where government ended. Saab continued development work by improving the computer. In
1960, the company had developed a transistorized computer, D2. It was a fast, reliable and
relatively compact computer that weighed only 200 kilograms. D2 also became the prototype to
a commercial computer, D21. Saab launched D21 on May 11 1962. The first computer had been
ordered by AB Skandinaviska Elverk and it was shown at the customer's premises in
Stockholm. In Saab's press release 77 you could read:
"The new computer's competitive potential, which has already resulted in several orders and
an increasing number of requests – currently D21 is being examined for more than 20
different applications – represents a promising breeding ground for a new Swedish industry
... A Swedish computer industry also enables Swedish industry in general and the Swedish
research, to streamline their methods and thus maintain the leading position in the progress,
which is so important for our society.”
It was initially not given that it was the fighter manufacturer Saab that should be given the task
to develop and manufacture commercial computers in the corporatist Swedish society. Saab had
originally copied BESK to meet their own computing needs in the development of fighters and
robots. The original idea actually was that Åtvidabergs Industrier (later Facit AB) would take
over the baton after MMN.
Åtvidabergs Industrier was an industrial corporation and manufacturer of office products. The
company had manufactured ten-digit mechanical calculators, named Facit, since 1932. The
calculators soon became a great success. By the early 1960s the corporation had a total of 8,000
employees with subsidiaries in over 100 countries, and the subsidiary Facit had come to
dominate the business of the corporation, which in 1965 made the entire corporation change its
name to Facit AB.
Facit, who then made mechanical calculators, was looked upon as a natural platform for the
Swedish computer industry to be. A special subsidiary, Facit Electronics, was formed in 1960
77
Saabs Pressinformation MP-19-62 (1962)
72
for the purpose. Facit Electronics also took over engineers and technicians from MMN, which
was shut down by government when it had fulfilled its mission. There was no need for MMN
went computers went into a commercial and industrial phase. The first product in Facit
Electronics was the computer Facit EDB, essentially a copy of BESK but equipped with new
external devices. A total of 11 computers Facit EDB were produced, mainly for technical
calculations and for Facits own data centers, who delivered time sharing services to different
customers. Facit EDB also delivered 12 other computers to the Swedish Air Force's air defense
system.
Operations in Facit Electronics suffered losses and required substantial investments. When
Saab, by launching D21 also turned up as a domestic competitor, Facit decided to close down.
Facit ended the civilian computer manufacturing in 1963 after fruitless negotiations with Saabs
computer division regarding a merger. Other activities continued with another organization: the
group developed printers and text screens that reached a relatively large market and later also
small computers. The time sharing services was moved to an independent company,
Industridata, with e.g. ASEA and Saab as co-owners. Facit focused increasingly on its
mechanical calculators, branding, marketing and global expansion. Throughout the 1960s Facit
experienced an increased growth and a very high profitability.
The incumbent given the task to form a Swedish computer industry thus became Saab. Saab
formed a computer division for that purpose. The first commercial computer, D21, was mainly
sold domestically but some units were also exported. In total some 30 units were built. Later
new versions, D22, D23, D5, D15, and D16, were developed and launched. The Swedish
government became one very important customer. When the Swedish government needed 20
computers in the 1960s to calculate taxes, an evaluation between Saab's and IBM's computers
was done and surprisingly enough it proved Saab's better. You could very well argue that a new
developing couple was born during the 1960s. Of course the Swedish Defense was an important
costumer to Saab but Swedish central government was also a very early adopter of computerization in various authorities and agencies. During the 1960s (and later the 1970s) the choice
always was Saab (later Datasaab). D5 computers from Saab were also used to set up the first
and largest bank terminal system for the Nordic banks, a system which was partly in use until
the late 1980s. By 1976 12,000 main frame computers from Datasaab had been sold. Still one
problem remained. Large Swedish export corporations, including groups in the same financial
sphere as Saab, did not buy computers from Saab but from IBM. Partly due to a rather odd
Swedish standard the export also stayed very small.
Fixed telecom becomes digital through a joint venture
The cooperation between the Swedish PTT, Televerket with its own industrial division Teli, and
L M Ericsson was given a much firmer shape in 1970 when they established a joint research and
development company, Ellemtel Utvecklings AB. The Ellemtel agreement was approved by the
Swedish Parliament and Ericsson’s Board of Directors. The new company was owned equally
by Ericsson and Televerket. Ellemtel was purely a development company without its own
production. Production would instead be the responsibility of the company’s two owners using
their respective production facilities. The company’s primary task was to develop on its owners’
73
behalf an electronic and automated telephone switching system for telephone stations that
would become the AXE system.
Ellemtel was a way to manage the emergence of a disruptive technology that threatened most
players in the telecom industry. Since the early 1960s both Televerket and Ericsson had been
working on developing commercial electronic switching systems of their own, but at the end of
the decade they feared that they could not master the industrial dynamics along. It had become
clear that this new development effort would be of a completely different magnitude than the
previous development of electro-mechanical switches. Ericsson had also realized that the system
they had developed so far would be far too slow and expensive to compete. It also appeared that
the international competitors had made considerable progress in their electronic switch projects.
In late 1969 this was confirmed when Ericsson lost a large order to its competitor ITT.
Both Ericsson´s and Televerket’s positions as telecom industries were threatened and both
companies concluded that it would be most effective to combine resources and jointly develop
an electronic telephone switching system. Ellemtel recruited personnel from both owners and
could thus not only bring together the expertise from two manufacturing companies but also
from one progressive user of telephone stations. Ellemtel’s organization was such that ideas and
influences from Ericsson and Televerket impacted development work at all important levels,
from the boardroom down to the engineers’ drawing boards. Ellemtel’s work on the development of the AXE system began in 1970 and achieved its decisive breakthrough in 1972, when
Ericsson decided not to continue with the development of its former system but instead to
concentrate its resources only on AXE. The company’s assignment included everything from
developing the AXE system’s modular system design to developing hardware and software
consisting of the computer programs and processors that would control the AXE stations. By
1976 the first AXE system was put into operation in Södertälje by Televerket. The success of
AXE electronic switching system enabled both Televerket and Ericsson to continue as telecom
manufacturers. Televerket took care of the domestic needs in their own industrial division and
Ericsson could compete successfully on export markets. At the same time, the product allowed
Televerket and Ericsson to take the next step in mobile telephony. By 1978, Ellemtel’s task of
developing the AXE system was complete and the company began handing over the technology
and transferring its expertise to its owners Televerket and Ericsson. Later Ellemtel worked with
other strategic assignments for its principals consisting of technical development for smaller
electronic PBXes equipment for data networks and digital transmission systems and new
telephones.
5.4
1970-1990 Confrontation, stagnation, crises and a
turnaround
Introduction
So the Swedish welfare state of the post-war period was built through a corporatist consensus
between government, industry and trade unions. In the early 1970s the well-organized Swedish
welfare state, with its high standard of living, still brought much attention and admiration. But
new forces were in motion under the welfare society’s idyllic and polished surface. The once
74
docile inhabitants of the Swedish community began in the late 1960s to oppose of those in
power in the corporatist Swedish welfare state. A series of reactions against the established
society was expressed. Protests, unrest and discontent also spread to the workplace. In the early
1970s both contractual and unlawful strikes became increasingly common. The commotion
contributed to the previously cherished work and motion studies and piece rate systems being
thrown out of the Swedish industry. Parallel the “moving van policy” was reconsidered and
labor law was fundamentally changed. These changes occurred at the same time as demands for
socialization were raised. The requirements also received backing from a new generation of
leading Social Democrats. In both the unions and the political ranks voices were raised to break
the cooperation with the Capitalists. The ownership of the increasingly fewer and larger
corporations in Sweden should either be transferred to government or to the employees. The
corporatist Swedish model was partly dismantled. But the dismantling only just begun before
the industrial crisis hit with full force. After 44 years of uninterrupted government a liberalconservative coalition took over government. But the new Minister of Industry barely had time
to take up the post until his office became an Emergency Room for failing firms.
During the 1980s – after more than a decade of stagnation, industrial crisis, foreign debt and an
underfunded public sector – the concept of growth was once again put high on the political
agenda in Sweden. The industrial crisis of the 1970s led to political reassessments. The
incumbents that had survived the crisis rebounded in the early 1980s, partly thanks to a
devaluation of the Swedish krona, but profitable large export companies no longer employed as
many people as before. In the wake of the crisis the hostility towards new technology basically
disappeared both in society and on the political agenda. In the early 1980s, political ambitions to
implement new technologies, particularly IT, to rationalize administration and working methods
were back on the agenda. At the same time various regional R&D activities were established.
One hope was that they would contribute to the emergence of new ventures, especially in the IT
sector, that could develop into new large export companies.
More orthodox socialistic ideas rules government
In 1969 Olof Palme, who was then 42 years old, succeeded Tage Erlander as Prime Minister in
Sweden. Palme had previously been the Minister of Education and was responsible for the work
behind a university reform, U68. The reform, which would be decided by parliament in 1975,
was a gigantic Man Power Planning for the nation-state Sweden 78. The ambition was to follow
and foresee future changes on the labor market and to regulate the number of university
graduates in each program to the future demand in each region. Palme had also attracted
international attention. At a peaceful demonstration in February 1968 he held a widely spread
speech. He explained that the European public opinion did not feel that the US war in Vietnam
was in favor for democracy, but rather a threat to the democratic ideals not only in Vietnam but
around the world. The statement caused strong reactions in Washington and the US shortly after
made its ambassador leave Sweden.
78
Sörlin (2008)
75
Palme rejuvenated the government, paving the way for more radical ideas which had taken root
among the young Social Democrats. A few years earlier, in 1967, the Social Democratic Party
Youth League (SSU) held a Congress that really reflected the left winds 79. The Congress
adopted a very radical action plan. The resigning President, the future Prime Minister Ingvar
Carlsson, and the new President elected by the Congress, the future Minister of Finance Bo
Ringholm, had endorsed the congressional opinions. The Congress demanded, among other
things, the nationalization of the banking industry, pharmaceutical industry, pharmacy services,
construction materials industry and petrol and oil trading. SSU also demanded an end to the
cooperation with capitalists and demanded that citizens would have real power and control over
the means of production. Thus the government’s close collaboration with the capitalists should
be replaced with more orthodox socialistic ideas.
Government takes a more active role in industry
Krister Wickman took up a new position as Minister of Industry in Olof Palme's cabinet.
Already May 29, 1969, he presented Bill 121, which became the basis for the formation of
Statsföretag AB; an industrial conglomerate with extravagant expansion plans 80. The idea was
that government, through Statsföretag, would be responsible for the production of basic goods
in the Swedish society, such as schoolbooks, computers for pupils, plastic bicycles, postal cars,
steel, food and medicines.
Government also introduced a more active industrial policy in other respects. Already in 1967
government had started a state-owned investment bank, Sveriges Investeringsbank, which
should give loans and buy equity in new ventures. A new governmental agency, the Board for
Technical Development (STU) was established in 1969. The background was government felt
that the pace of technological developments had increased in the 1960s. Government argued that
the innovation process – the transfer of ideas and research results into commercially successful
products – must be seen as a single, cohesive chain of activities. When STU was established
government also started a new investment company, Svenska utvecklingsaktiebolaget (The
Swedish Development Company). One mission was to exploit innovations made by employees
in government authorities and agencies and state-owned companies. Formally the state's more
passive role in the industrial development would be replaced by an active, proactive involvement at government level. It meant a sharp departure from the previously established division
of roles between government and industry, where government completely handed over the
commercialization to private incumbents.
While STU was awarded a role in the development and commercialization of new technology a
more hostile approach towards technology and rationalization also gained a foothold among
social democrats and in the trade unions. The increasing computerization, automation and use of
industrial robots were particularly highlighted. Demands were raised to stop or stem the use of
new technology, so that people could adapt to new conditions instead of large occupational
groups hurriedly being moved into unwanted unemployment. Government started new
delegations (Dataeffektutredningen, Datadelegationen and Data- och elektronikkommittén).
79
80
Ljunggren (2008)
Fredriksson (2008)
76
This signaled a very radical change of perspective in the Swedish labor movement that spread
real fast.
Even if few people noticed, you could in the early 1970s also see the first signals of an
upcoming crisis. As a consequence subsidizes became a part of the newly established concept of
industrial policy. Selective support measures, targeted at industries dominated by small
enterprises, like textile and clothing, footwear, glass, furniture and foundry industry, were the
result. The responsibility for handling the programs of selective subsidizes was given to a new
government agency, the National Industrial Works (SIND), which was established in 1973.
During the period 1973-75 pay-outs doubled, mainly due to increased support operations in
crisis-affected companies and sectors, but also through increased R&D funding and increased
payments for export promotion. In the 1975 Budget Bill, the Minister of Industry stressed that
government must continually acquire information on how different industries develop in terms
of, for example, investments, profitability, funding and employment. SIND took on the
responsibility to provide a basis for selective government actions, which were intended to
control the industrial development towards the desired effects in terms of employment, salary
pay, growth, export and regional balance.
The corporatist Swedish cooperation is put to an end 81
Despite the "oil crisis", and the increased costs of industrial policy, there was not a widespread
"sense of crisis" in the country before 1976. In 1974, the major export companies made very
high profits overall. The political debate was dominated by discussions about the "excess
profits" – not on "industrial crisis". Growth and increased standards of living were seen rather as
governed by the laws of nature than as a result of innovations, rationalization and hard work of
the population. The older social democrats assiduous missionary on these matters was more or
less forgotten, which gave significant consequences for the actions taken by government and
trade unions.
LO pushed the issue of economic democracy at the beginning of the 1970s. The list of
companies on the Swedish stock exchange had remained basically intact since the mid-1930s.
To own shares therefore appeared as safe as putting money in the bank, and there had not been
any need for venture capital as new technology, new products and new markets had been
intercepted by the established incumbents. In 1971, the convention of Sweden’s confederation
of blue-collar unions (LO) proposed a study to investigate the possibility of introducing
collective capital formation. In 1975, the persons carrying out the study, under the leadership of
LO economist Rudolf Meidner, presented their recommendation for wage-earner funds,
commonly known as the Meidner Plan. It was proposed that 20 percent of a company’s profits
should be used to buy newly issued equity shares. This proposal entailed a gradual transfer of
ownership from private individuals and institutions to collective entities governed by unionappointed directors. The funds would eventually own 50 percent of companies in the long term.
The LO convention supported and approved Meidner Plan in the summer of 1976.
81
This section draws on Giertz (1991) p. 253-269 and 387-407
77
The discussions about wage-earner funds were partly ditched when the Social Democrats lost
the election in the autumn of 1976. But in 1982 Olof Palme was partly forced against his will to
make wage-earner funds one of the election’s key issues. LO demanded that wage-earner funds
be given a prominent position on the Social Democrats’ agenda. However, a considerably
modified proposal had been put on the table by that time. A group led by the future Minister of
Finance Kjell-Olof Feldt, had revised the original plan. When the Social Democrats won the
election wage-earner funds were introduced in a modified version in 1983. However the
taxation was immediately cancelled in 1991 when a right winged government, under the
Conservative Prime Minister Carl Bildt's leadership, was appointed and a few years later the
funds were closed down.
When the ideas of wage-earner funds started to take shape, it was the death knell for the
government's earlier cooperation with industry. The tension between industrial owners and
CEOs on the one hand and Social Democrats and labor unions on the other increased
considerably at the beginning of the 1970s. Thus the foundation of the corporate Swedish
society was destroyed. The tension increased even more since government implemented new
legislation on the labor market. During the period 1972-77 labor laws were completely changed
by the Minister of Justice, Carl Lidbom. It resulted in an almost complete turnaround compared
to the previous "Spirit of Saltsjöbaden". There is surprisingly little attention paid to this
turnaround in more recent discussions about the content of the so called Swedish model. There
might even be some who believe that the 1970s labor law reform is part of the original Swedish
model and a reason for the Swedish economic miracle in the 1960s.
Behind the visible changes also a more subtle but important development lurked. The relationship between the government and the business community's top representative changed
radically. In the previous social democratic post-war governments the Prime Minister as well as
other important ministers – such as the ministers of trade and finance ministers – had close
personal contacts with both top representatives of the important financial spheres and their
employed CEOs. Confidentiality, personal contacts and informal consultations between
government and business leaders were in the 1970s gradually replaced by bureaucratic contacts
between officials, officers and ombudsmen of various kinds. The contacts between the
government and the industry became frostier. The earlier consensus had been replaced by
powerful confrontation at crucial points.
In the early 1970's. Immediately after the liberal-conservative coalition took over the
government in 1976, the Minister of Industry opened his "Emergency Room". Sweden's
economy was greatly unbalanced. A shrinking export industry could no longer finance
government´s galloping spending.
From picking presents off a Christmas tree to crises management
During the first half of the 1970s the former corporatist Swedish model began to be dismantled.
But the dismantling only just begun before the industrial crisis hit with full force. In 1976 the
Social Democrats lost the election. After 44 years of uninterrupted government a liberalconservative coalition, led by the Centre Party leader Thorbjörn Fälldin took over. Their
predecessor said that when entering the cabinet they could just start picking presents off a
78
Christmas tree arranged by the Social Democrats. But the new Minister of Industry, Nils G
Åsling, barely had time to take up the post until his office became an Emergency Room for
failing firms.
Shortly after the seemingly good "excess profit year" in 1974 – which brought with it greatly
increased wage costs for industry – structural problems appeared. Productivity decreased and
real earnings were reduced. Unemployment rose, particularly among young people. AMS
received increased funding, special support measures were directed at small enterprises and
companies who arranged jobs for young people received special grants. But above all there was
a dramatic increase in direct efforts to sustain employment in the country's ailing basic
industries and incumbents. Concealed behind the increase was direct aid to shipbuilding, steel,
forestry, mining and textile industry. During the period 1977-79 over nine Bsek was paid in
direct subsidies only to the shipbuilding industry, which represented approximately sek 280,000
per employee, or 120 percent of the shipbuilding industry's total payroll. The crisis also made,
ironically, the new liberal-conservative government responsible for the largest socializations in
the country's history. With an ambition to pursue structural rationalization, the state entered as
the sole owner of several companies; for example, Svenskt Stål AB (Swedish Steel) and
Svenska Varv AB (Swedish Shipyards).
When the incumbents in basic industries went into trouble the country's total production was
greatly reduced. The industrial crisis also spoke quickly in reduced market shares on the world
market, rising unemployment, negative trade balance and low profitability in many industries.
In the wake of the crisis the liberal-conservative government's interest to encourage the growth
of small and medium sized enterprises increased. As a result the business associations were
converted to regional Development Funds in 1978. SIND and the county council in each county
became principals. The Development Funds, which received increased resources and access to
their own loan funds, would primarily focus their support to start-ups and existing businesses
with up to 200 employees.
Successful production of peripherals close to Kista
During the crises in the mid-1970s much hope and trust was put in the IT industry which
seemed to belong to the future. Not only computers but also peripherals were of great interest in
those days. One interesting company was Stansaab. Stansaab Elektronik AB was founded in
1971 as a joint venture between Standard Radio & Telefon AB (SRT), Saab Scania AB and the
state-owned Svenska Utvecklingsaktiebolaget (The Swedish Development Company).
SRT, owned by the US Company ITT, was established in Sweden already in 1938. In 1970 SRT
had about 2,000 employees at three different locations in the Stockholm area. SRT had a
turnover around 150 Msek. Two thirds of the products, for example air traffic control systems
and military radar systems were sold domestically in Sweden. Thus SRT could be looked upon
as a Swedish defense industry. When the joint venture Stansaab was established in 1971 SRT
provided the core technology. The original idea was to focus on systems for real-time data
applied mainly to aviation and health care applications. Stansaab took over the computer
division of SRT and the premises with 800 employees in Barkarby, close to Kista, outside
Stockholm. But the development of Stansaab soon deviated from the original idea.
79
One thing that was important when working with real-time data was to replace punched cards
and paper tape with data terminals. Users had to be able to interact with the computer in a new
way. Due to its work for the aviation industry, one of SRT’s core competencies was the display
of radar images. That expertise was thought to be important also when developing data
terminals. But Stansaab came up with a rather simple idea. They ordered 12 inch TV screens
from the TV manufacturer Luxor in Motala. Stansaab could launch the first generation of
Alafaskop – an alphanumerical, 80 characters and 24 lines, terminal that quickly became a
standard. It soon gained a foothold in the market. Scandinavian Airlines Systems alone ordered
1,000 Alfaskop terminals for airline reservations. There were more large Swedish customers in
the pioneering phase such as newspapers, the police, insurance companies and Televerket. In
1972 Datasaab purchased the data terminal operations of Facit. The main reason was to close
down a potential competitor. In 1973 SRT sold its shares in the company. Stansaab suddenly
was a fifty-fifty joint venture between government and Saab Scania.
In 1977 negotiations between Saab Scania and government led to a new agreement. In 1978
Stansaab Elektronik AB merged with Saab Scandia’s computer division and formed the new
Datasaab AB. Government, through Investeringsbanken AB, and Saab Scania each owned half
of the shares in the new company. By then the main frame computers were outcompeted by
IBM and the combined company, Datasaab AB, made a loss of 230 Msek in 1978. But even
though the whole company was very unprofitable the success of Alafaskop continued. A key
benefit of the Alfaskop was that it was IBM compatible but cost less. This meant discounts for
volume customers made the terminals attractive. The Alfaskop terminals enjoyed considerable
success, outselling IBM on the Swedish market and successfully competing all over Europe.
The terminal business in Datasaab was very profitable and in 1980 the factory in Barkarby had
almost 1,200 employees.
Almost next door to Datasaab in Barkarby another successful manufacturer of peripherals was
located. IBM in those days manufactured their printers intended for the European market in
Sweden. IBM had started production in Sweden in Vällingby, another suburb to Stockholm, in
1954 but moved to a new factory in Barkarby in 1970. In 1976 The Järfälla plant started the
production of IBM 3800 – the first electrographic printer in the industry operating at up to
20,000 lines per minute. Still in 1988 the Järfälla plant was IBM’s largest printer plant globally.
The export value was considerable. The exports from IBM’s plant in Järfälla more than
compensated for the import of IBM products to Sweden. But in 1989 IBM sold the factory and
prepared for a new product generation. IBM partnered with Hitachi to OEM a Hitachi
developed printer, released as the IBM 3900. It was announced October 1990 and shipped in
late 1991. The Järfälla factory finally closed down in 1994.
A state-owned Personal Computer industry is born
When six people met at a hotel in Linköping in January 1978 a new Swedish computer industry
was born. The driving force was an engineer, Lars Karlsson, who had founded a company,
Dataindustrier AB (DIAB), in 1970. DIAB had among other things developed process control
for customers in the sawmill industry. Lars already had convinced Karl-Johan Börjesson at
Scandia Metric AB that he could develop a competitive computer. Scandia Metric was involved
80
in factory automation in various industries and Börjesson saw the need for a new computer on
the industrial automation market. If Karlsson succeeded Scandia Metric could, according to
Börjesson, sell 2,500 computers to Swedish industry. Now Karlsson and Börjesson met with
three representatives from Luxor to convince them to start a joint venture. When they left the
meeting they had all agreed upon their common mission and the distribution of duties and
responsibilities.
Luxor AB was a Swedish company founded in 1923 and located in Motala. It used to be a very
successful manufacturer of home electronics, such as radios, gramophones, tape recorders,
television sets, and stereo systems. It used to have a dominating position on the domestic market
and a foothold in other Nordic countries. But Luxor was severely hit when a new transistorized
product generation was introduced by foreign competitors in the beginning of the 1970s.
Troubles also increased because of devastating fire in the factory in 1976. Still Luxor had stayed
fairly competitive on the domestic market for TV sets, but was definitely outcompeted on other
home electronics. Luxor had also been helped by delivering TV screens to Alfaskop terminals at
Datasaab.
The idea was that Luxor would manufacture home computers. Lars Karlsson declared that he
took care of all product development if Luxor took care of manufacturing and sales to the home
market, while Scandia Metric was responsible for the industrial market. The parties agreed upon
the idea and in August 1978 the first ABC 80 (Advanced BASIC Computer 80) It was named 80
because it used a Zilog Z80 processor running at 3 MHz. Luxor now was about to become a
computer company, but the founder was about to die and the owner-family lacked necessary
financial resources. In 1979 government took over Luxor from the family on the verge of
bankruptcy. The state-owned company was divided into three subsidiaries: Luxor Consumer
Electronics AB, Luxor Electronics AB and Luxor Computers AB.
ABC 80 used a dedicated tape recorder for program and data storage, but could also be
expanded to handle disk drives and other peripherals. The monitor of course was a modified
black and white TV set. The computer had excellent I/O response times. Some sound effects
could also be produced but the graphics and the sound was not good enough to compete with
home computers like Commodore 64 on the gaming market. Still ABC 80 was a huge success
on the domestic market. It was used for industrial automation in similar ways that embedded
systems are used today. But most of all it got a foothold on the rising personal computer market
thanks to the availability of office software in Swedish.
Luxor increased sales on the office market when introducing the ABC 800 series, which had a
more extensive BASIC, more memory, but otherwise similar performance. ABC 800 was the
personal computer and office-version of ABC 80, which had originally been aimed for the home
market. The storage was usually two 5.25” floppy disk units, but external hard disk eventually
became available. The ABC 800 computer was also sold by Facit by the name Facit DTC (Desk
Top Computer). ABC 800 had, compared to other PCs on the new market, great technical
performance and it cost about 10,000 sek, which was fairly cheap in those days. Luxor initially
took about 60 percent of the domestic PC market and it was widely spread. Many Swedes got
the first contact with a computer through ABC 800. The Swedish Employers Confederation
81
started free of charge mass education for unemployed young people and so did AMU Gruppen –
the public agency responsible for labor market education. AMU in Stockholm did run training
in three shifts in a lot of class rooms to get the most out of their investment.
The success of ABC 800 came to an end a few years after the introduction of IBM PC in
Sweden around 1983. Microsoft DOS became more or less a de facto standard but Luxor's
adverts asked; "Who needs IBM-compatibility?" However, most computer buyers eventually
considered it a requirement. The production of ABC 800 closed in 1986.
Ericsson and Nokia takes over
The introduction of AXE initiated new ideas at Ericsson. Ericsson had almost manufactured all
components and products in a telephone system including telephones. Through digitalization it
would eventually be possible to transfer, not only voice, but also data, text and images in a
telephone network. This understanding was a starting point for Ericsson when forming visions
about what in those days was called office automation.
The first steps in forming Ericsson Information Systems (EIS) were taken in December 1980
when Ericsson signed an agreement with Saab Scania to acquire all of their shares in Datasaab.
At the same time government agreed to sell 40.5 percent of the shares in Datasaab. Thus
government initially kept 9.5 percent. Datasaab was from the start the core of EIS. The Alfaskop
business in Järfälla was very profitable, while other product ranges at Datasaab were losing
money. Ericsson soon invested 40 Msek in the Järfälla plant but moved product development to
own premises in Kista.
Ericsson also acquired the remainder of Facit. In 1970, Facit had reached its peak with more
than 14,000 employees worldwide. In 1971, modern Japanese-made electronic calculators
started to seriously disrupt the industry, instantly making Facit's mechanical calculators
obsolete. As a result, Facit went out of business virtually overnight. Facit was sold to Electrolux
in 1973 and Electrolux passed Facit on to Ericsson in 1983. Facit was thought to be instrumental
for Ericsson when developing PCs. Ericsson almost vacuum cleaned the Swedish ICT industry
when expanding the information systems business. Besides Datasaab and Facit Ericsson also
acquired companies like AutoTank, Addo, Z-tryckerierna and ID-Kort. To integrate all these
very different business cultures proved difficult.
But visions were great when EIS was formed. Ericson’s product portfolio would span over a
very broad spectrum including data processing, communications and office automation. Of great
interest were the terminals. Visionaries began to dream about how the telephone would
eventually develop into a more versatile terminal that would also be connected to data networks.
Meanwhile Ericsson continued the profitable production of Alfaskop but also developed new
products. An Eritex workstation comprising a telex and a data terminal was soon launched. The
first PC – the EPC – was introduced in 1984. The Eritex terminal was retired already in the mid1980s and different new PCs all became failures on the market. But the Alfaskop, which
Ericsson wanted to phase out, continued to sell. 100,000 units were sold by 1983 and annual
sales climbed above 25,000. When eventually production was closed (by Nokia) almost a
million terminals had been delivered.
82
Breaking into the US market, which was the home of computing, proved to be an impossible
task. Ericsson's personal computers were not a success in the competitive PC market. Problems
with profitability arose immediately. Ericsson's own stores for office equipment, which operated
under the name Ericsson City, did not attract customers. Already in 1984 the entire business
area was re-structured, but the losses continued. Ericsson decided to abandon its paperless office
strategy and all computer operations were sold to Nokia in 1988. Further development within
the area of business communications were transferred to the newly established company
Ericsson Business Communications.
Almost all remainders of Swedish-owned computer companies in Sweden ended up in Nokia.
Nokia became a principal owner in Luxor already in 1984. Computer production was
discontinued in 1986, followed by television production in Motala in 1992, when the production
moved to Finland. A partnership with Autoliv, which in those days was owned by Electrolux,
ended up in Autoliv buying Luxor Electronics in 1998. Autoliv Electronics in Motala is still
manufacturing electronic products for the automotive industry.
While Ericsson had tried to build its own brand in the PC business, Nokia was willing to trade
on the Alfaskop name. By 1989, they were showing the “Alfaskop Workgroup System”. From
1990 Nokia Data encouraged the development of several franchise partners to drive sales of PCs
and network technologies. From 1994 these companies were co-operating closely and delivering
network technologies, Microsoft solutions, and system integration. In 1995 these companies
were merged to form Alfaskop AB. In 1997, the company was listed on the Stockholm Stock
Exchange. However, by 2001, the company was bankrupt and its remaining 400 employees
were laid off.
A global standard opens the world market for Ericsson
Swedish computer industry had developed computers, both main frame computers and PCs,
which were technically competitive. Computers had also been successfully introduced on the
domestic market and gained substantial market shares until de facto standards from US
companies took over completely also in Sweden. But when a global standard for digital mobile
telephony was developed Sweden was in the lead.
Analog mobile telephony had been introduced in Sweden by Televerket already in 1956. The
first system, Mobile Telephone System version A (MTA), was followed by new versions, MTB,
MTC and MTD. The MTD still was a manual system with operators. The phones were heavy
and not called handsets but car phones. In 1969, two years before MTD was introduced, the idea
of developing a common and automated Nordic mobile system was introduced at a conference
with all Nordic telecommunications administrations (PTTs). The Nordic Mobile Telephone
Group (NTR 69-5) was formed. Both the chairman and the secretary were employed by
Televerket.
The Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) system was opened for service in Sweden and Norway in
1981 and in Denmark and Finland in 1982. It was the first fully automatic cellular phone system
and it was specified by the Nordic PTTs. It took care of the increasing congestion and heavy
requirements of the manual mobile phone networks. In Sweden alone, the MTD-system had
83
19,000 subscribers and employed 700 operators. NMT was based on analog technology (first
generation or 1G). The NMT specifications were free and open, allowing many companies to
produce NMT hardware and pushing prices down. By 1985 the network had grown to 110,000
subscribers in the Nordic countries, 63,300 in Norway alone, which made it the world's largest
mobile network at the time. The success of NMT was important to Ericsson and Nokia (then
Mobira). The NMT system enabled roaming among countries and in 1990 NMT had 1 million
subscribers.
The NMT system was only just opened when preparations for the next generation (2G) of
mobile systems started. Already in December 1982 the Conférence Européenne des Postes and
des Télécommunications (CEPT) formed the Group Spécial Mobile (GSM) in order to decide
future standards for mobile telephony. This marked the beginning of the formal procedures that
in time would lead to the adoption of a pan-European standard. Televerket took a lead in the
work. Thomas Haug, who was the former secretary in The Nordic Mobile Telephone Group,
chaired the steering committee of experts that standardized the GSM system. Ericsson also
engaged heavily in the standardization work. The new standard received its three-letter
abbreviation, GSM, from the group that developed it but in time the interpretation of the letters
was changed to Global System for Mobile communication 82. Haug remained chair of the
standards work until the new system was introduced to the market. It was first opened by
Televerket in Sweden in July 1991.
The GSM standard was quickly accepted, not only throughout Europe, but also in Asia, where
much of the hardware was manufactured. This made GSM more of a global standard and the US
was more or less forced to adapt to it. The world market was opened for Ericsson and
Ericsson’s core business would eventually transform from fixed to mobile telecommunications.
Of course Ericsson, through its close cooperation with Televerket, had a competitive advantage
when a global and more deregulated market opened up in the years to come.
Industry recovers during the 1980s
The election in 1982 reiterated the Social Democrats to power. The crisis had drained
government finances. A widespread sense of crisis had helped to keep the Swedish wage
increases and inflation in line with the main competitor countries. Consolidations and
eliminations had also cleaned up the structure in industry. The remaining companies did well,
and the industry's competitiveness on foreign markets was further improved by a devaluation of
sixteen percent, which the Minister of Finance Kjell-Olof Feldt pushed through immediately
when the new government was installed.
Ingvar Carlsson, who assumed the position of Prime Minister after the assassination of Olof
Palme, got support from Kjell-Olof Feldt when he tried to adapt Sweden to the rapid
internationalization of the economy. The so-called right-wing in government secured that
productivity issues were once again put high on the social democratic agenda. Feldt spoke as
former social democrats did, when he stressed that growth requires a more efficient production
throughout society – of goods as well as services. This could be the result of introducing new
82
Gessler (2002)
84
technologies, but also from introducing new and more efficient organizations, structures and
work methods in working life.
A productivity delegation was appointed in 1989. It stressed that real growth is based on
efficiency improvements, which ensure that we get better productivity and quality and better
service in all parts of working life. The delegation's report, which was delivered in 1991 83,
focused on weak productivity improvements in the Swedish working life. The delegation looked
at the nation's total production capacity and stressed that the transformation pressure, especially
in the service sector, must increase.
Universities – a new instrument for regional policy
As stated earlier Swedish industry in general had started to recover in the 1980s but there were
significant regional imbalances. The eliminations of plants, enterprises and certain industries
had resulted in a redistribution of employment. Employment increased in those cities where a
dozen successful engineering corporations or pharmaceutical groups decided to expand, but
declined sharply in regions with previous employment in industries such as shipbuilding and
steel works. The regional imbalances had great impact on industrial policy in the mid-1980s. By
then the Social Democratic Minister of Industry, Thage G. Peterson, no longer had the
possibility to direct an increasing number of blue collar jobs to regions with unemployment.
Now when successful Swedish industrial corporations gained market share, invested in research
and development, introduced new technology and improved their profitability, they did not
increase the number of blue-collar jobs in Swedish factories. On the contrary, manufacturing
industry's share of employment in Sweden decreased throughout the 1980s. Nearly 100,000 jobs
disappeared from the export industry. At the end of the decade, all companies producing any
kind of goods accounted for less than 20 percent of employment in on the Swedish labor
market.
While routine factory jobs vanished, the need for skilled technicians and engineers increased in
the export industry. Overall, the industry doubled its spending on research and development
during the 1980s. The need for MSc´s in engineering took off. But the investments were
concentrated to a little more than a dozen corporations in the engineering, pharmaceutical and
chemical industries. They concentrated largely on the metropolitan areas and the vicinity of
universities. A lot of investigations, as well as the media, also highlighted research as a vehicle
for growth in the emerging knowledge society. Cities with a university were pinpointed as the
winners in the future society. They argued that there was strong links between research and
higher education, the creation of new competence, the growth of new knowledge-based
businesses and thus new jobs 84. Cities with universities were pinpointed as the growth centers
the labor markets of the future, where highly skilled, highly paid and creative people flocked.
Media made out the universities to be the engines for the growth of new knowledge-based
companies. For regional policy-makers it seemed obvious that there were strong links between
research, new knowledge-based companies and future employment. International studies also
83
84
SOU 1991:82
See Deiaco, Giertz, Reitberger (2002)
85
supported a positive correlation between the percentage of highly educated and the economic
growth of a country. This made higher mass-education get its definitive breakthrough in
Sweden. The expansion also enabled the dispersion of both higher education and research. In
1988, Sweden received four new universities in Luleå, Karlstad, Växjö and Örebro. At the same
time there were investments made in regional colleges, which almost invariably came to engage
themselves in some kind of research. Thus from the mid-1980s research and higher education
became an instrument of regional policy. New universities and regional colleges were the base
for regional business policies. They were not only designed to satisfy the need for skilled labour
on the regional market. They would also conduct their own research and hopefully become the
breeding ground for comprehensive new enterprises with great employment potential.
5.5
1990-2005 Hunting for economic growth in a global market
Introduction
In the beginning of the 1990s a recession was waiting. It was magnified by Iraq's invasion of
Kuwait in the summer of 1990. The industry was forced to adjust production capacity to a
declining demand. Cutbacks arose in virtually all industries. Questions concerning the location
of production no longer dealt with the location of new plants but rather where necessary
closures would be made. Confidence that incumbents could guarantee full employment in the
future faltered in almost all political parties and on all levels. In the industrial and regional
policy more and more weight was given to new ventures and to small and midsize enterprises.
This also enforced a shift in the governmental regional policy, from measures that primarily
reallocated employment, to efforts that supported regional or local development programs. By
now the Social Democrats were no longer very keen on owning the Swedish industry. The
industrial dynamics during the 1970s and 1980s, and the failures in state-owned companies,
made politicians in almost all parties hesitate towards governmental ownership in industry.
Sweden's relationship to the EC also was an important issue in the growth debate. As the vision
of a common internal market took concrete form, it became increasingly clear that Sweden
would join EU, which happened in 1995. The development in Europe also took a different turn
in 1989-90. With a speed that aroused astonishment everywhere the walls between the East and
the West were torn down. Over time, it also created a greatly enlarged EU.
A wave of deregulations in sectors such as energy, telecommunications, postal services, aviation
and media were also rolled out across the West. Sweden was to play a leading role in that
transformation. Firms and agencies in domestic monopoly or oligopoly industries faced
competition from new competitors and international players who expanded their geographic
markets. The regulated credit market and the currency exchange controls were also abolished,
which rapidly increased Swedish companies’ direct investments abroad. At the entrance to the
2000s it was clear that the pursuit of further growth in Sweden was very much dictated by
developments on European and global markets.
86
Recession initiates crises package and a financial crises
In the wake of the recession prices on commercial real estate plummeted. In two years they fell
by more than 50 percent. New construction ceased, which hit hard on the construction and
building industries. The downturn on the property market first hit the real estate companies, but
also had serious repercussions on investment companies and banks. The Social Democratic
government presented a "crisis package", which included savings in the public sector and
reduced health insurance. It also included a positive statement on Swedish accession to the EC.
The social democrats also made some other changes related to industrial policy. Three
governmental agencies – SIND, STU and Statens energiverk – merged into a new governmental
agency, The Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development (Närings- och
teknikutvecklingsverket, NUTEK). In 1991 also a very radical tax reform, agreed upon two
years earlier both by the social democrats and the liberal-conservative parties, was implemented.
It lowered the previous extreme progressivity of the Swedish income tax to more normal levels.
In principle, the Swede would in the future not pay more than half of a wage increase or an extra
income in tax.
In the chaotic situation, the Social Democrats once again left government. After the 1991
election conservative leader Carl Bildt became Prime Minister of a liberal-conservative
government. The financial crisis forced a series of costly commitments. Alongside dealing with
the unemployment, government had to guarantee bank liabilities to third parties, give subsidizes
to support some banks and also nationalize the private bank Nordbanken. In May 1993
government set up a special governmental agency, Bankstödsnämnden, to handle further
support to banks in trouble. The crisis weakened public finances and unemployment was
widespread. Nobody put trust in Swedish economy any longer which imposed new problems.
When the credit market was deregulated the Swedish krona had been linked to the European
currency unit ECU at a fixed exchange rate. The Riksbank – Sweden's central bank – tried the
longest to stave off the attacks against the krona. The overnight interest rate even rose to
improbable 500 percent before the Governor, Bengt Dennis, gave up. The krona was allowed to
float, which in reality meant that it sank like a stone.
The European Union was realized in November 1993, and in January 1995 it was extended to
include Finland, Sweden and Austria. EU's so-called convergence criteria facilitated the
consolidation of the Swedish economy during the first half of 1990's. During reasonably broad
political consensus there was a relatively consistent austerity policy. It led to cutbacks and
changes in the welfare system. International confidence in the Swedish economy was restored.
The krona was appreciated and interest rates were reduced to historically low levels. Inflation
ceased almost completely, but a larger decline in the unemployment rate was slow in coming.
Televerket and Ericsson are divorced
Sweden started to liberalize its telecommunications in 1980 with a parliament decision to open
the market for terminals attached to the public network. Previously Televerket had sole right to
attach equipment to the public network. In fact previously, if your telephone broke down, you
free of charge got a new phone from Televerket. It was Televerket who owned the phone – not
87
the subscriber. This became more tricky when new equipment, such as fax-machines, were
connected to the network.
Even if you could sense the startup of a liberalization movement already in 1980 a very close
cooperation between the monopoly Televerket and Ericsson continued throughout the 1980s. In
fact a gigantic development project was started in 1987 in the jointly owned development
company Ellemtel, which had previously developed the very successful AXE system. The new
project was named AXE-N, where N stood for Network. AXE-N was intended to use ATM
(Asynchronous Transfer Mode) technology to construct one single, universal communication
system for all telecommunications – speech, data and various broadband services in packetswitched form. It really was a visionary dream for all engineers. But the benefits from a
successful project would to a high extent be substituted by internet that simultaneously began to
take form in the early 1990s.
Skilled employees in Ellemtel, Ericsson and Televerket were dedicated to the project, which
also hired more than a thousand consultants. The AXE-N project was to be the one of most
expensive industrial project in Sweden ever. Estimates say that Ericsson alone invested over 10
Bsek. The project was stalled in 1994 and completely closed down on December 8, 1995. This
was a chock not only for 700 employees but also for a number of R&D related ICT consultancy
companies who almost overnight were out of job. The project must be considered a total failure,
especially since Ericsson had completely focused on ATM- technology instead of working with
IP-routers, which could perform similar tasks at a lower cost.
Towards the end of the AXE-N project the marriage between Televerket and Ericsson ended up
in a divorce. They had been a developing couple for about 70 years but the time to separate had
come. Already in 1990 government had taken some steps on a liberalization journey by
transforming Televerket into a public company. In 1993 the new company Telia AB was formed
and a new Telecommunications Act was launched. This initiated a first significant liberalization
effect. When Telia was to become a competitor in the telecommunication industry and not a
state-owned domestic monopolist a lot of things changed. In 1994 Ericsson bought Teli, Telia’s
equipment-manufacturing units, which meant that the domestic AXE manufacturing was
transferred to Ericsson. In 1995, just after the AXE-N project was terminated, Ericsson also
bought Telia’s holding in Ellemtel.
On June 13, 2000 a partial privatization of Telia AB through an initial public offering (IPO) on
the Stockholm stock exchang. The government received 76.5 Bsek in exchange for 30 percent
of the state-owned telecommunications company. The offer price was 85 sek per share, which
valued Telia at about 255 Bsek. It was a huge interest among Swedes in general. Government
decided that all investors who applied for 100 shares or 400 shares would get them, while those
who applied for more only got a fraction. The Minister of Infrastructure made adds about the
''people's share'' and 954,000 Swedes actually became shareholders in Telia AB.
The IPO was done just before the third generation mobile standard, 3G or UMTS (Universal
Mobile Telecommunications System), was about to be installed in Europe and Japan. 3G was a
further development of GSM where it was possible to transfer mobile data at the speed and
88
capacity needed for multimedia services. Licenses for the new system were issued in the
European countries in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Different countries chose different
approaches. Finland was the first country to issue licenses. In March 1999, four licenses were
allocated without any conditions on the operators regarding coverage or time. Telia and Sonera
acquired one license each.
The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (PTS) chose to allocate the licenses through a "beauty
contest". Telia applied but on December 16, 2000 PTS announced that Telia did not receive a
license. Telia was the only former PTT in the world finding itself in this position. The licenses
were instead allocated to Europolitan (which later became Vodafone and then Telenor), Hi3G
(later 3), Orange (later acquired by France Telecom) and Tele2. Telia was in shock but found a
solution. Telia and its competitor Tele2 soon announced their intention to create a joint network
company, Swedish UMTS Network Company, to utilize the 3G license which Tele2 had been
awarded. It was a joint venture on a 50-50 basis, which was approved by the Competition
Authority in the spring of 2002.
Several European Countries chose to allocate 3G licenses through auctions. Telia did not
participate but the Finnish tele operator Sonera did85. In Spain Sonera became a 15 percent
partner in the Xfera Movile consortium, which acquired a license for 130 million Euros. In
France Sonera and Telefónica received one license for 8.4 billion Euros. The licenses also
required massive additional investments to exploit them. The purchases dramatically increased
Sonera's debt level. Sonera found itself in a serious financial crisis. Telia was financially strong
and saw the opportunity to acquire Sonera. In 2002 Telia acquired Sonera to form a new
company Telia Sonera.
Ericsson survived when the bubble bursted
In the year 2000 Ericsson was riding high. Ericsson had 101,553 employees globally (43,193 in
Sweden). The number of employees had constantly increased despite the fact that Ericsson had
winded up Ericsson Component and closed down their own production of processors and other
components. Some plants, for instance a large manufacturing plant in Karlskrona, had also been
outsourced to Flextronic in the late 1990s. Still Ericsson was a very large employer in Sweden
and abroad. The skills and competence of employees had change over time. The number of blue
collar workers had decreased over the years and they were replaced by engineers and
technicians of various kinds.
In the year 2000 the turnover in Ericsson was close to 300 Bsek, the profit above 20 Bsek and
more than 40 Bsek was spent on R&D. Ericsson’s share of Swedish GDP was two percent.
Ericsson shareholders were also happy. Share price had increased from 20 sek to more than 800
sek during the last decennium. Ericsson was in the very center of a worldwide hype around the
potential of the internet. Ericsson had around 200 million AXE lines in place in 120 countries.
But the success was very much linked to a fast penetration of GSM systems in the late 1990s.
Ericsson held an estimated 40 percent share of the world’s mobile market. GSM had almost
become a de facto world standard in recent years but Ericsson still held a strong position also in
85
Jansson, K (2015)
89
other mobile standards. The amount of GSM subscribers increased extremely fast at the end of
1990s. In 1998 the number was 100 million. At the turn of the millennium, two years later, the
number of GSM-users was 465 million and the total number of subscribers to mobile phone
systems around 760 million. The number of GSM users alone outnumbered the number of
internet-users, which were approximately 400 million. At the turn of the millennium Ericsson
was on top and expecting to deliver a lot of brand new 3G-systems, especially to tele operators
in Europe. But the market failed.
One important reason why the market failed was, as mentioned earlier, that several European
countries chose to allocate the 3G licenses through auctions. European tele operators spent
around 130 billion Euro to buy licenses for 3G-networks that were supposed to give people the
freedom to virtually live from their mobile phones, reading e-mail, browsing the Internet,
placing video calls, enjoying music, buying products and services, making reservations and so
on. The nature of the auctions was designed to increase competitive pressure on bidders by
offering fewer licenses than the number of operators likely to bid. The tele operators were put in
a difficult position, because if they lost the auction they were out of business in the next phase.
They took risks and made high bids and ended up with large debts. But when they got the
licenses they could not afford to buy and install the systems.
The tele operators went into serious trouble. When the trouble leaked out to the public the hype
on the stock market was put to an end. On March 6, 2000 the index on the Stockholm stock
exchange had been all time high. The total value was 4,800 Bsek and Ericsson alone was valued
to 1,709 BSek. The next day the bubble started to burst, but Ericsson still showed good figures
in 2000 and coped rather well initially. The share value of tele operators on the other hand fell
quickly all over Europe. They had no choice but to reduce their investments sharply. This of
course also hit Ericsson and on October 20, 2000 the share price went down drastically. Still the
figures for the full fiscal year 2000 were quit ok, which also is reflected above.
In Ericsson the crisis was a fact on March 12, 2001 86. The figures for January and February had
been bad, which was not unusual, but March had always been a good month. When no orders
turned up, and AT&T wanted to cancel a signed order on a mobile system, management started
to realize what was to come. Ericsson announced a first profit warning. In one year tele
operators around the world halved their investments in tele systems, which of course hit
everyone in the tele vendor industry hard. More than 700,000 employees in the tele vendor
industry around the world lost their jobs in a very short time. There also were a lot of
consolidations throughout the industry.
People still wanted new mobile phones, so the market for handsets was almost not affected at
all, which partly explains why Nokia was not hit that hard. Ericsson on the other hand had great
problems with their handsets. Former, when the demand exceeded the supply, Ericsson had
done well because the phones were reliable. Ericsson shared the top position with Nokia and
Motorola in the late 1990s. But in 2000 people on the consumer market started to ask for more.
Ericsson still sold 43 million handsets in 2000 but the business area made a loss of 24 Msek and
86
The rest of this section draws on Karlsson & Lugn (2009)
90
it was a burden to the Group. Ericsson decided to concentrate on core business, that is tele
system – not consumer products. In October 2001 Ericsson’s mobile handset business was
moved into Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, owned fifty-fifty by Sony and Ericsson.
3,000 employees from Ericsson and 1,000 from Sony were moved to the new entity. The new
company was operated by Sony management and was completely subsumed by Sony in 2012.
After a slow start the company became very successful and profitable for a few years, up until
the current smartphone era was initiated with the introduction of Apple’s iPhone in January
2007.
Despite cost cuttings and massive layoffs the fiscal year 2001 ended with a very big loss of 18
Bsek. It was Ericsson’s first loss in more than half a century. More than 8,000 consultants also
lost their customer in 2001. But it was not only a question of profit and loss, but also about the
cash flow situation. The lack of orders from the tele operators was one thing but customers also
paid late due to bad liquidity. Ericsson was forced to borrow money to pay salaries. The
situation was alarming in March 2002. The customers were afraid to put orders because they did
not believe Ericsson would survive. The board decided to issue new shares to raise 30 Bsek.
The share price was set at 3.80 sek. It was uncertain if Ericsson could make investors put up
new money when the prospect was presented July 19, 2002. But they did! According to the
CEO, Kurt Hellström, Ericsson was only weeks from bankruptcy when the new money turned
up.
Ericsson survived and took off again in 2004. By then global employment was down to 50,534
employees (21,296 in Sweden). Thus Ericsson’s global and Swedish employment fell to less
than half of their previous levels in only four years. In Sweden, the ICT sector outside Ericsson
was also hit. Via its external networking and partnering, Ericsson had contracted tens of
thousands of Swedish companies in ICT-related development, consulting, manufacturing and
maintenance. In the successful attempt to return to profitability, Ericsson slashed this spending.
With this multiplicative effect and Ericsson’s own layoffs, a huge volume of ICT-expertise was
re-deployed in Sweden. And that is still the case. Ericsson’s employment worldwide has
increased since 2004, but employment in Sweden is continuously decreasing. Ericsson is no
longer only a manufacturing company exporting goods, but also a global service provider that
operates telecom system worldwide on a contractual basis.
A diversified ICT sector is born
Not only Ericsson made layoffs in the turn of the millennium. In parallel a lot of .com
companies and internet consultancy companies, which had been valued to fantasy figures during
the hype, were in deep trouble. They lay off people or went into bankruptcy. It was a complete
turmoil, but out of the ashes raised a dynamic new ICT sector, which is described in the chapter
named “The Swedish ICT Sector today”.
When Ericsson no longer absorbed most of the ICT competence in the country people had to
turn elsewhere. Ericsson’s former employees looked for job elsewhere, but thousands of ICT
consultants also had to look for new customers. That development actually started on a massive
scale already in the mid-1990s when Ellemtel decided to close down the AXE-N project, one of
the largest projects in Swedish industry so far. A lot of competent engineers working with R&D
91
related software development turned to other employers or customers in different sectors, for
example the engineering industry and the banking industry.
Other more application oriented developers and entrepreneurs benefitted from the fact that
Sweden and particularly Stockholm, much thanks to Telia and Ericsson, had a well-functioning
infrastructure and citizens who were early adopters of new internet services. Especially in
Stockholm a lot of very successful new ventures have been born in the segment Software and
Net Services. Some of them are spun off from universities like KTH, but many are also spin offs
from industry. In some sub-segments, such as the gaming industry, new ventures seem to have a
strong foothold among students. Most new ventures in the segment Software and Net Services
seem to have one thing in common. They have not been reliant on contacts with Swedish
incumbents or Swedish agencies.
In March 2000 the bubble bursted. It seems as if the explosion spread a lot of seeds which found
good soil for new businesses and new ventures. But at the same time it changed the conditions
for governmental efforts to support demand-driven research and new innovations in Swedish
industry. Before 2000, incumbents like Ericsson, Televerket and ABB could set the agenda for
both higher education in engineering sciences and applied research in technical universities as
well as in sectorial research institutes. But when companies like ABB and Ericsson decided to
concentrate their business and close down their factories the existing research in fields like
microelectronics and optics were left without their former demanding “customers”, who set the
agenda for demand-driven applied research. Research institutes like Acreo than became more of
an incubator than an institute partly financed by Swedish incumbents with a common research
interest. Governmental funding was also partly transferred to help the establishment of new
ventures.
EU influences innovation policy and regional growth policy
When Sweden joined the European Union the Social Democrats had returned to government. In
1994 Ingvar Carlsson put together his third Cabinet. Göran Persson was appointed Minister of
Finance. He implemented welfare cuts and tax increases to place Sweden in a position to qualify
for the European Economic and Monetary Union. The job was done and the budget deficit went
down but unemployment rose considerably. When Ingvar Carlsson announced his retirement in
1996 Göran Persson became the new Prime Minister. One important policy issue was to lower
the unemployment rate.
Research and technology-based new ventures were regarded as important potential growth
engines in Swedish policy. Around the turn of the millennium scientists and politicians pointed
out that in Sweden we invested more in R&D than most other countries. Sweden was also
ranking in top in terms of new patents. Yet we lay in the bottom of the OECD list when it came
to new ventures and entrepreneurship. Many heavy commentators claimed it was due to an
inability to commercialize research, so that we could reap the benefits of our outstanding
research in the form of new enterprises in the country. As a consequence great policy interest
was concentrated to research – both in universities and in research institutes – in fields like ICT,
biotech and energy. Seed capital, venture capital, incubators, patent counselling and the like
were included in a new policy agenda.
92
The new agenda also made the social democratic government form a new Swedish
governmental innovation agency, VINNOVA (Verket för innovationssystem), on January 1,
2001. The new agency, which is sorting under the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation,
replaced part of the former governmental agency Nutek. VINNOVA got the assignment to
administer state funding for research and development. The agency's mission as defined by the
government is to promote development of efficient and innovative Swedish systems within the
areas of technology, transportation, communication and labor. The agency should accomplish
this by giving financial aid to research-focused companies for research, development and legal
costs. VINNOVA have contacts with and supports universities, research institutes and public
sector organizations as well. VINNOVA also acts as a National contact agency for the EU
framework programme for research and innovation, which has in a way increased the funding.
You can argue that the public funding of research and innovation was increased when Sweden
joined EU. An active policy to support the development in all regions in Sweden was even more
boosted when Sweden joined the EU 87. A broad political consensus came to prevail that Sweden
should regain its share of the money paid to the common funds. Politicians and researchers, and
representatives of business and trade unions, both at national and regional level, joined forces to
make sure Sweden would be able to gain a rightful share of the common cake. Sometimes the
discussions on development started rather in the availability of EU funds, than in discussions
about actual needs and possibilities in the region. On the national level Nutek initially played a
central role in helping the regions in this context. But when Nutek was closed down in April
2009, the responsibilities were transferred to a new government agency, Tillväxtverket (The
Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth).
The Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth is sorting under the Ministry of
Enterprise and Innovation. The main task is to distribute EU funding to promote entrepreneurship and regional growth. The mission is to strengthen the competitiveness of Swedish small
and medium-sized enterprises or future entrepreneurs directly and work to improve the general
framework for doing business. The agency also has the ambition to build networks for
cooperation and investment initiatives that hopefully will strengthen the business sector in the
region.
Ambitions on the regional level have to some extent removed national policy focus from
productivity issues. Former right-wingers among the Social Democrats, such as Kjell-Olof
Feldt, had left. They made room for other ideas. A similar reversal was also made within the
liberal-conservative block, which was to some extent manifested already when they regained
power in 1991. Within both the two political blocks the key policy areas have lately to some
extent been formed on the basis of other considerations than economic growth on the national
level. The taxation emphasizes justice not incentives, labor law stresses security not mobility,
and regional policy stresses equality in all parts of the country and so on. Growth policy does no
longer permeate all policies on the national level. Instead growth policy has been looked upon
87
Nilsson (2008)
93
as a separate policy area. Economic growth is no longer regarded a concern of general policy
but the concern of a separate innovation policy and a regional growth policy.
Entrepreneurship is the name of the game
A few years into the 2000s a consensus grew on the desirability of a broad widespread
entrepreneurship 88. Not only an increased number of super entrepreneurs that would drive new
technology-based companies. Entrepreneurship and business creation is an equally important
ingredient to increase efficiency in different parts of working life – including domestic and local
services. Fragmentation of organizations and companies into smaller units, and a subsequent
streamlining of operations, could have significant impact on the pressure for change and growth.
The emergence of a rich flora market funded, entrepreneurial enterprises can be of equal
importance for economic growth as a single new company with high growth potential.
The wish to support new ventures and entrepreneurship made government introduce some
changes in regulatory systems, for example in the tax systems. Swedish laws and regulations
were in the beginning of 2000s still very much inspired by Harvard economist John Kenneth
Galbraith, who advocated policies and regulations that favored existing incumbents. He argued
that individual efforts and individual incentives had become less important. That thinking was
still reflected in the Swedish regulatory system in the beginning of the millennium. Something
had to be done.
Sweden, compared to other countries, had a very high inheritance tax and gift tax, which were
also taxed progressively. The inheritance tax and gift tax in Sweden caused many serious
problems in connection with generation shifts because private assets were often locked up in the
companies. When assets were shifted, the heirs were often forced to either sell the company or
take out a substantial private loan to cover the taxes. For several decades, the inheritance and
gift taxes in Sweden, combined with a wealth tax – which also imposed taxes upon working
capital in companies – forced many business owners to either sell their firm before transferring
it to the next generation, or to move outside Sweden. Many financial advisors in Sweden had
since the mid-1970s recommended successful Swedish business owners to take up residence in
another country. All those taxes were repealed in the beginning of the new millennium. The
inheritance and gift taxes were repealed on January 1, 2005 and the wealth tax on January 1,
2007. This not only pawed the way for new entrepreneurs but also made successful Swedish
entrepreneurs move back home to Sweden.
Globalization has during the last fifteen years fundamentally changed the rules and action
opportunities for politicians. The financial market is global, both manufacturing and service
companies operate in a global market. The companies that supply services to the infrastructure
are international. Questions on corporate localization of the development, production and backoffice business is constantly up for discussion, as well as the exchange of labor in an
increasingly open economy. It has opened for efficiency improvements and structural changes,
which in part can be conceived as conflicting with an increased entrepreneurship. Economies of
88
See Braunerhielm, Eklund & Henrekson (2012)
94
scale are utilized and small companies are acquired and merged when industries are consolidating. In many mature industries there are only a few companies left, which compete with one
another in the global market. Alongside will the new large international companies are being
increasingly more specialized. Many companies concentrate on their core business and choose
to procure services that they previously ran in-house.
A growth policy of tomorrow must not only – or even primarily – be about individual
innovations or export companies with a high growth potential. Equally important – perhaps – is
a policy which improves efficiency and productivity in different service sectors that today
accounts for 85 percent of all jobs in Sweden. Better quality and service with the same resources
in the service sector is almost certainly of vital importance to grow the economy in Sweden.
From a societal perspective, the main measure in this context might not be to get existing
enterprises to employ more. Perhaps it is even better to support the establishment of more
market-funded enterprises that continue to finance their operations through revenues from
services delivered on a competitive market.
95
6
The Finnish ICT sector today
Mika Pajarinen and Petri Rouvinen
The Finnish ICT sector has experienced exceptional turmoil since the 2008 financial crisis.
Nokia’s downsizing is what first meets the eye and without Nokia the sectors employment
in Finland would have remained about the same. There has been a wave of mergers and
acquisitions – in particularly Tieto Group has been heavily molded. ICT in Finland has
grown more international and has become more consolidated.
6.1
ICT companies in Finland
ICT companies employed in Finland 87,000 workers in 2012. From 2008 the employment in the
ICT sector has decreased by 10,417 workers. As shown in Figure 6.1, the employment has
decreased most remarkably in CT manufacturing, which is largely due to restructuring of Nokia.
The number of workers has decreased to a lesser extend in Telecom, IT wholesale and IT
manufacturing. In contrast, the employment has increased in Software, ICT consulting, and ICT
maintenance. Software is nowadays the largest ICT sub-sector in Finland. It employs about onethird of the workers in the ICT sector.
Figure 6.1: ICT employment by sub-sector
30 000
Software (+886)
25 000
CT manuf. (-10047)
ICT maintenance (+898)
20 000
Telecom oper. (-2660)
15 000
ICT consulting (+2516)
10 000
IT wholesale (-1196)
5 000
IT manuf. (-815)
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Source: Statistics Finland. In the parentheses are reported the changes in employment from 2008 to 2012.
In this section we discuss the companies in the Finnish ICT sector. We will mostly use the
definition of an enterprise, rather than an enterprise group/conglomerate. Since many enterprise
96
groups active in the ICT sector have rather complicated structures and they have multiple
enterprises within the same group – in part because of a lengthy series of mergers and
acquisitions –, members of the same group frequently come up. Our analysis also shows that the
ICT sector is exceptionally international: virtually all major multinational companies are active
in the Finnish market via a locally operating subsidiary. As far as larger companies are
concerned, the same ones tend to be active both in Finland and in Sweden.
The 10 largest ICT companies in Finland in 2012 were Nokia, Nokia Solution and Networks,
Tieto Finland, TeliaSonera Finland, CGI Suomi, Elisa, Fujitsu Finland, DNA, Accenture
Services, and IBM Finland.
The Nokia group was clearly the most significant employer; it employed more than three times
more workers than the second largest company Tieto, a IT services provider with a considerable
market share in the Nordics but with operations in more than 20 countries. Tieto’s main
business areas are consulting and system integration services, application management and
transformation consulting, IT infrastructure and cloud services, enterprise platform services and
end user solutions. It also sells industry-specific software products and productized solutions.
TeliaSonera provides network access and telecommunication services. It is one of the largest
Telecom operators in Europe. It operates in the Nordic and Baltic countries, the emerging
markets of Eurasia, including Russia and Turkey, and in Spain.
CGI Suomi (former Logica) is a Finnish subsidiary of CGI. It sells IT consulting, systems
integration services, application development and management services, infrastructure services
and business process services both to private and public sector.
Elisa is the second largest telecom operator in Finland by employment. It supplies telecommunication and online services for over two million consumers and organizatios.
Fujitsu Finland is a subsidiary of Fujitsu group headquartered in Japan. Until 1990s, it was a
part of Nokia group selling personal computers (brand name Mikromikko) and office software
(ToimistoTiimi). Nowadays it supplies both IT services and hardware to clients in the Nordic
and Baltic countries. DNA is the third largest telecom company measured by employment in
Finland. It was founded in the end of 1990s and its current form was created in 2007 by a
merger of several local Finnish telecom firms. It has about 2.5 million mobile subscriptions and
over million fixed line subscriptions. Accenture Services is a Finnish subsidiary of Accenture
group. It offers ICT consulting services both to private and public sector. IBM Finland is a part
of the IBM group. IBM has operated in Finland since 1920s.
Besides the afore-mentioned ten companies, Table 6.1 shows the remaining forty biggest ICT
companies in Finland. In total, they had 48,830 employees in Finland, accounting for 56% of
the total ICT sector employment in the country. Sixteen of the top 50 were software companies;
there were 4–7 companies in the other six sub-sectors.
97
Table 6.1: Top 50 ICT companies in Finland in 2012 by employment
Rank Company
Industry
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
CT manuf.
CT manuf.
ICT maintenance
Telecom
Software
Telecom
ICT maintenance
Telecom
ICT consulting
Software
Software
CT manuf.
IT wholesale
Software
ICT maintenance
IT manuf.
Software
Software
ICT maintenance
CT manuf.
Telecom
Software
CT manuf.
Software
Software
CT manuf.
ICT consulting
ICT maintenance
ICT consulting
ICT consulting
ICT consulting
Software
Software
ICT consulting
IT wholesale
Software
IT manuf.
Telecom
CT manuf.
ICT maintenance
Software
Software
IT manuf.
IT wholesale
Software
IT wholesale
Telecom
ICT consulting
IT manuf.
Software
NOKIA OYJ
NOKIA SOLUTIONS AND NETWORKS OY
TIETO FINLAND OY
TELIASONERA FINLAND OYJ
CGI SUOMI OY
ELISA OYJ
FUJITSU FINLAND OY
DNA OY
ACCENTURE SERVICES OY
OY IBM FINLAND AB
DIGIA FINLAND OY
SIEMENS OSAKEYHTIÖ
HEWLETT-PACKARD OY
CAPGEMINI FINLAND OY
OPUSCAPITA GROUP OY
ISOWORKS OY
F-SECURE OYJ
BASWARE OYJ
TIETO HEALTHCARE & WELFARE OY
TELLABS OY
ANVIA OYJ
IXONOS FINLAND OY
TELESTE OYJ
NICE-BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FINLAND OY
TEKLA OY
CASSIDIAN FINLAND OY
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES
ATOS IT SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES OY
ACCENTURE TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS OY
AFFECTO FINLAND OY
OY SAMLINK AB
INSTA DEFSEC OY
ROVIO ENTERTAINMENT OY
TIETO-TAPIOLA OY
ATEA FINLAND OY
TIETOKARHU OY
ALSTOM GRID OY
DIGITA OY
SCANFIL EMS OY
ENFO OYJ
CYBERCOM FINLAND OY
MICROSOFT OY
PKC ELECTRONICS OY
ALSO FINLAND OY
SOLTEQ OYJ
STANLEY SECURITY OY
TDC OY FINLAND
CSC-TIETEEN TIETOTEKNIIKAN KESKUS OY
KEMET ELECTRONICS OY
ORACLE FINLAND OY
Source: Statistics Finland’s business registry.
98
Employment in
Finland
8 379
6 378
4 429
3 667
3 238
2 902
1 689
1 157
1 113
988
773
682
666
622
599
549
497
482
475
463
449
411
374
359
349
348
348
347
336
336
330
327
316
305
301
288
276
275
273
265
262
259
257
254
254
253
245
234
228
223
Table 6.2: Top 25 ICT companies by headcount growth in Finland in 2008–2012
Rank Company
Industry
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
ICT maintenance
Telecom
ICT consulting
Software
Software
Software
IT manuf.
ICT maintenance
Software
Telecom
ICT consulting
Software
Software
Software
ICT maintenance
Software
Telecom
Software
ICT maintenance
ICT consulting
Software
Software
ICT consulting
ICT consulting
Software
TIETO FINLAND OY
DNA OY
ACCENTURE SERVICES OY
IXONOS FINLAND OY
CGI SUOMI OY
ROVIO ENTERTAINMENT OY
KEMET ELECTRONICS OY
FUJITSU FINLAND OY
BASWARE OYJ
ELISA OYJ
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED
DESCOM OY
INNOFACTOR SOFTWARE OY
NICE-BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FINLAND OY
TIETO HEALTHCARE & WELFARE OY
WAPICE OY
VAKKA-SUOMEN PUHELIN OY
F-SECURE OYJ
APPELSIINI FINLAND OY
MEDBIT OY
TEKLA OY
FUTURICE OY
CSC-TIETEEN TIETOTEKNIIKAN KESKUS OY
MIKKELIN PUHELIN OYJ
SIILI SOLUTIONS OYJ
Empl. growth
2008-2012
2 888
1 102
972
324
309
290
215
186
156
155
150
136
131
119
119
109
100
96
87
86
79
79
78
78
76
Source: Statistics Finland’s business registry.
Table 6.3: Top 25 ICT companies by headcount de-growth in Finland in 2008–2012
Rank Company
Industry
Empl. change
2008-2012
1.
2.
3.
CT manuf.
Telecom
CT manuf.
-7 597
-2 093
-1 605
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
NOKIA OYJ
TELIASONERA FINLAND OYJ
NOKIA SOLUTIONS AND NETWORKS
NOKIA SOLUTIONS AND NETWORKS BRANCH
OPERATIONS OY
IXONOS OYJ
OY IBM FINLAND AB
SCANFIL EMS OY
SIEMENS OSAKEYHTIÖ
DIGIA FINLAND OY
INCAP OYJ
TRAINERS' HOUSE KASVUSYST.OY
SIEVI CAPITAL OYJ
ENFO OYJ
HEWLETT-PACKARD OY
KYMEN PUHELIN OY
NOKIA INTERNATIONAL OY
SANMINA-SCI EMS HAUKIPUDAS OY
TIETO-TAPIOLA OY
NEUSOFT MOBILE SOLUTIONS OY
AINACOM OY
DIGITA OY
COMPTEL OYJ
SELMIC OY
CYBERCOM FINLAND OY
WIPRO LIMITED, SUOMEN SIVULIIKE
CT manuf.
Software
Software
CT manuf.
CT manuf.
Software
IT manuf.
Software
CT manuf.
ICT maintenance
IT wholesale
Telecom
CT manuf.
CT manuf.
ICT consulting
Software
Telecom
Telecom
Software
IT manuf.
Software
ICT consulting
Source: Statistics Finland’s business registry.
99
-641
-481
-419
-276
-265
-262
-213
-199
-176
-163
-143
-134
-127
-125
-106
-104
-97
-95
-92
-90
-88
-87
Table 6.4: Top 25 ICT entries by employment in Finland in 2012
Rank Company
Industry
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
ICT maintenance
ICT consulting
Software
CT manuf.
Software
IT wholesale
Telecom
Telecom
ICT maintenance
ICT maintenance
Telecom
Software
Telecom
ICT consulting
IT wholesale
IT wholesale
Software
ICT maintenance
ICT maintenance
ICT consulting
Software
Software
IT manuf.
IT manuf.
Software
ATOS IT SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES
ISTEKKI OY
INNOFACTOR BUS. SOLUTIONS
NOKIA SALES INTERNATIONAL OY
SASKEN FINLAND OY
SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC FIRE & SEC.
KAISANET OY
KYMP OY
POHJ.-KARJ. T.TEKNIIKKAKESKUS
NEBULA OY
EMPOWER IM OY
ADP DEALER SERVICES FINLAND OY
HCL TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
KARTTAKESKUS OY
OY HEDENGREN AB
OY ANGLO-NORDIC AB
TELECA FINLAND OY
KUNTIEN TIERA OY
STRÅLFORS OY
QENTINEL QA OY
SAAB SYSTEMS OY
SOGETI FINLAND OY
HUOLTOVERKKO OY
SMARTRAC TECHNOLOGY FINLAND
SUPERCELL OY
Empl. in
Finland, 2012
347
187
166
149
149
112
111
111
109
92
92
90
88
74
73
71
68
67
66
64
64
56
53
52
51
Source: Statistics Finland’s business registry.
Table 6.5: Top 25 ICT exits by employment in Finland in 2008
Rank Company
Industry
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
ICT maintenance
ICT maintenance
Telecom
Telecom
ICT maintenance
ICT maintenance
ICT maintenance
CT manuf.
IT manuf.
IT manuf.
Software
Telecom
Software
Software
Software
ICT maintenance
ICT maintenance
Software
ICT maintenance
Software
ICT consulting
Software
Telecom
Software
Telecom
TIETOENATOR PROCESSING & NETWORK OY
TIETOENATOR GMR OY
DNA PALVELUT OY
OY ENIRO FINLAND AB
TIETOENATOR FOREST & ENERGY OY
TIETOENATOR BANKING & INSURANCE OY
TIETOENATOR DIGITAL INNOVATIONS OY
POWERWAVE COMTEK OY
EVOX RIFA OY
INFOCARE FINLAND OY AB
TKP TIETO OY
DNA FINLAND OY
TELECA FINLAND OY
ETTEPLAN TECHNICAL INFORMATION OY
PRIMASOFT OY
SANOMA DATA OY
ADITRO FINANCIALS OY
VANSCO ELECTRONICS OY
ALMA MEDIA INTERACTIVE OY
TIETO BROADCASTING IT OY
SUN MICROSYSTEMS OY
ADP DEALER SERVICES (FINLAND) OY
KOKKOLAN PUHELIN OY
ATBUSINESS OY
SPECTRICO OYJ
Empl. in
Finland, 2008
-1,220
-1,003
-765
-583
-391
-380
-299
-231
-229
-227
-214
-208
-194
-158
-152
-149
-139
-122
-116
-107
-106
-105
-97
-91
-77
Source: Statistics Finland’s business registry.
The importance of the 50 largest in employment declined from 2008 to 2012. This is mainly due
to layoffs of the few largest companies. For instance, the largest employer, Nokia, fired over
100
7,500 workers during these years. As can be seen in Table 6.1, the size of the companies in the
sector drops quite rapidly. The 30th largest firm in 2012, Affecto Finland, employed 336
workers and the 50th largest, Oracle Finland, 223 workers in Finland. In 2008, the 30th largest
firm, Digita, employed 370 workers and the 50th largest, GNT Finland, 266 workers in Finland.
In Table 6.2 we look at the 25 companies that increased their Finnish employment the most. In
this respect, the top companies were Tieto Finland (+2,888), DNA (+1,102) and Accenture
Services (+972). Most growers among the largest employees have been software companies.
The only manufacturing company on this list was Kemet Electronics (former Evox Rifa
producing mainly capacitors). In total, these 25 increased employment by 8,120 workers.
Table 6.3 looks at the 25 largest ICT downsizers in 2008–2012. The top three were Nokia (7,597 workers), TeliaSonera Finland (-2,093) and Nokia Solutions and Networks (-1,605). In
total, the top 25 downsizers reduced employment by 15,678 workers.
As can be seen in Table 6.4, the largest entering company were ATOS IT Solutions and Services
(a subsidiary of ATOS group headquartered in France), Istekki (a software firm focusing on
information, communication and medical technology), and Innofactor Business Solutions (a
software firm focusing on providing solution for Microsoft platforms). Most of the top entrants
provide business services. The 25 top entrants employed 2,562 persons in 2012.
The largest exiting companies between 2008 and 2012 were Tietoenator Processing and
Network (a subsidiary of Tieto Group), Tietoenator GMR (a subsidiary of Tieto Group) and
DNA Palvelut (a subsidiary of DNA Group), all of which relate to corporate restructurings
(Table 6.5); among the top exits, six related to Tieto Group. Most exits were in software firms
and in ICT maintenance. In 2008, the 25 top exiting companies had 7,363 workers.
6.2
Largest ICT firms by subsector
In this section we report top10 companies by ICT sub-sectors, although we mainly comment on
top 5 firms. Table 6.6 depicts 10 largest employers in CT manufacturing. After Nokia group the
third largest is Siemens, which a part of a German diversified company with the following
business areas: Power and Gas, Wind Power and Renewables, Power Generation Services,
Energy Management, Building Technologies, Mobility, and Digital Factory and Process
Industries and Drives (nevertheless classified as a CT manufacturing firm at Statistics Finland).
Tellabs (former Martis, since 2014 Coriant) is a CT manufacturer that was bought in 1993 by
US-based Tellabs group. Teleste was founded in 1954 and it develops and offers video and
broadband technologies and related services. Its clients are cable and telecom operators and
public sector organizations. It has manufacturing facilities in Finland and in China.
101
Table 6.6: Top 10 companies in CT manufacturing in 2012
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Company
Employment in Finland
NOKIA OYJ
NOKIA SOLUTIONS AND NETWORKS OY
SIEMENS OSAKEYHTIÖ
TELLABS OY
TELESTE OYJ
CASSIDIAN FINLAND OY
SCANFIL EMS OY
SANMINA-SCI EMS HAUKIPUDAS OY
NOKIA SALES INTERNATIONAL OY
LAUKAMO ELECTROMEC OY
8 379
6 378
682
463
374
348
273
197
149
101
Source: Statistics Finland’s business registry.
As can be seen in Table 6.7, the largest IT manufacturing firm in Finland is Isoworks, a
subsidiary of Japanese Fujitsu, although nowadays most of its business deals with CT and
maintenance services. Alstom Grid (a part of Ahlstom group since 2010; before Schneider
Group and Nokia Kondensaattorit; originates from Suomen Kaapelitehdas) engineers and
manufactures products and systems for reactive power compensation and harmonic filtering and
sells and markets new equipment and solutions for power transmission. PKC Electronics is a
contract-manufacturer of electro mechanics products. It also supplies testing solutions for
testing of, e.g., mobile phones, tablet computers, vehicle infotainment systems and displays.
Moreover, it sells power control products for telecommunication and energy industries. Kemet
Electronics is US-based company that manufactures electronic components, especially
capacitors. It has manufacturing facilities in Finland in Suomussalmi. Aspocomp Oulu is a
production unit of the group. It manufactures a variety of circuit board products.
Table 6.7: Top 10 companies in IT manufacturing in 2012
Rank
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Company
Employment in Finland
ISOWORKS OY
ALSTOM GRID OY
PKC ELECTRONICS OY
KEMET ELECTRONICS OY
ASPOCOMP OULU OY
OY DAREKON LTD
INCAP OYJ
GENELEC OY
SCF HUOLTO OY
HUOLTOVERKKO OY
549
276
257
228
155
140
133
110
97
53
Source: Statistics Finland’s business registry.
In top 10 IT wholesale companies foreign-owned firms dominate the list (Table 6.8). Of the top
5, only Hewlett-Packard was originally a greenfield entry to Finland, the other four have been
targets of mergers and acquisitions. Atea Finland was originally known as Facidata and was
established in 1985. Eleven years later it was acquired by Swedish-owned WM-Data, and 2001
the name of the group changed to Atea. Also Finland was before operating as a name of GNT
Finland and since 2009 it has been a part of German-based Also Holding. Stanley Security
distributes security related technology. It was founded in 1986 as a name of STW Security. In
1993 it was acquired by a Swedish firm Securitas, and in 2011 Stanley Black & Decker bought
102
the firm. Cygate was founded in 1989 and since 2007 it has been a subsidiary of TeliaSonera.
The only still Finnish-owned company among the top 10 IT wholesalers is Hedengren Security
(6th), which sells products related to security systems, including camera surveillance, intruder
alarms, access control, personal alarms and emergency light systems.
Table 6.8: Top 10 companies in IT wholesale in 2012
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Company
Employment in Finland
HEWLETT-PACKARD OY
ATEA FINLAND OY
ALSO FINLAND OY
STANLEY SECURITY OY
CYGATE OY
OY HEDENGREN SECURITY AB
SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC FIRE & SECURITY OY
FOXCONN OY
SAS INSTITUTE OY
TECH DATA FINLAND OY
666
301
254
253
149
119
112
103
89
80
Source: Statistics Finland’s business registry.
The largest telecom company in Finland is TeliaSonera, which was founded in 2002 by a
merger of Sonera and Swedish firm Telia. It was the first to operate mobile telephony networks
in Finland, followed some years after by Radiolinja, which was eventually acquired by the
second largest telecom firm Elisa. DNA was founded by a merge of several local telecom firms
in 2007. Anvia is the fourth largest telecom firm in Finland. It is based in western coast of the
country and known earlier as Vaasan Läänin Puhelin. Digita maintains radio and television
networks as well as wireless data communication networks in Finland. It was established in
1999 when Finnish broadcasting company (YLE) decided to divest its distribution network unit.
Nowadays it is owned by an Australian investment company.
Table 6.9: Top 10 companies in Telecom in 2012
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Company
Employment in Finland
TELIASONERA FINLAND OYJ
ELISA OYJ
DNA OY
ANVIA OYJ
DIGITA OY
TDC OY FINLAND
CORENET OY
AINACOM OY
SSP YHTIÖT OY
VAKKA-SUOMEN PUHELIN OY
3 667
2 902
1 157
449
275
245
195
169
152
117
Source: Statistics Finland’s business registry.
The largest software company by employment is CGI Suomi, a subsidiary of Canadian based
group. CGI Suomi was established in 1972 as a name of Kunnallistieto Oy. It has also operated
under names of KT-Tietokeskus and Novo Group. It was acquired in 2004 by WM-data and then
in 2012 by CGI. The second largest software company, IBM, has a long history in Finland. It
has done business in the county since the 1920s. Digia is a Finnish company listed in Helsinki
Stock Exchange. Its current form was created in 2005 when SysOpen and Digia merged. F-
103
Secure offers cyber security solutions to both individuals and organizations. It was founded in
1998 and nowadays has 6,000 resellers and 200 operators in over 40 countries.
Table 6.10: Top 10 companies in Software in 2012
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Company
Employment in Finland
CGI SUOMI OY
OY IBM FINLAND AB
DIGIA FINLAND OY
CAPGEMINI FINLAND OY
F-SECURE OYJ
BASWARE OYJ
IXONOS FINLAND OY
NICE-BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FINLAND OY
TEKLA OY
INSTA DEFSEC OY
3 238
988
773
622
497
482
411
359
349
327
Source: Statistics Finland’s business registry.
Accenture Services is the largest ICT consulting firm in Finland – over three times bigger that
the second biggest Tata. Tata has headquarters in India, and like Accenture, it has also done
large IT outsourcing deals, e.g., with Nokia. The third largest ICT consulting company,
Accenture Technology Solutions , is also a part of Accenture Group. Affecto Finland was known
until 1999 as Enator Finland. Its roots relate to the outsourcing of IT functions of several large
Finnish manufacturing firms, like Wärtsilä, Rauma-Repola, and Rosenlew. When Tieto and
Enator merged in 1999, competition authorities demanded that Enator Finland had to be
excluded from the new group. As a result, the management together with venture capital funds
bought Enator Finland and its name was changed to Affecto Finland. Samlink is a software firm
that has been specialized to developing and producing software used in financial sector.
Table 6.11: Top 10 companies in ICT consulting in 2012
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Company
Employment in Finland
ACCENTURE SERVICES OY
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LIMITED, FILIAL I FINLAND
ACCENTURE TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS OY
AFFECTO FINLAND OY
OY SAMLINK AB
TIETO-TAPIOLA OY
CSC-TIETEEN TIETOTEKNIIKAN KESKUS OY
ISTEKKI OY
MEDBIT OY
VISMA SOFTWARE OY
1 113
348
336
336
330
305
234
187
160
154
Source: Statistics Finland’s business registry.
In the ICT maintenance, the biggest company is Tieto Finland. Also two other entries in the
maintenance top 10 belong to Tieto group: Tieto Healthcare and Welfare and Tieto Oyj. The
second largest firm in this sub-sector is Fujitsu’s Finnish subsidiary. The third largest firm,
Opuscapita, has been specialized in providing outsourcing services related to financial
administration functions of firms. It also develops cash flow processes, which the firm calls as
“purchase-to-pay” and “order-to-cash” processes. In addition to Finland, it has businesses in
eight other European countries and has over 11000 clients. Atos IT Solutions and Services is a
104
Finnish subsidiary of Atos Group. It was formed in 2011, when French firm Atos Origin and
German Siemens IT Solutions and Services merged.
Table 6.12: Top 10 companies in ICT maintenance in 2012
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Company
Employment in Finland
TIETO FINLAND OY
FUJITSU FINLAND OY
OPUSCAPITA GROUP OY
TIETO HEALTHCARE & WELFARE OY
ATOS IT SOLUTIONS AND SERVICES OY
ENFO OYJ
TIETO OYJ
APPELSIINI FINLAND OY
REAKTOR INNOVATIONS OY
YIT INFORMATION SERVICES OY
4 429
1 689
599
475
347
265
217
170
169
115
Source: Statistics Finland’s business registry.
6.3
Remarks
The above analysis reveals exceptional turmoil of the Finnish ICT sector in 2008–2012. Nokia’s
downsizing is what first meets the eye and without Nokia the sectors employment in Finland
would have remained about the same. Particularly Tieto group has been heavily molded in this
window. Through fairly intense mergers and acquisition activity, and to a lesser extent through
entries and exits, the Finnish ICT sector has grown more international and has become more
consolidated.
Arguably changes in the composition of the sector and of its companies reflect a shift from
“craft ICT”, with customer-specific and at least partly hand-coded solution, to more “industrial
ICT”, in which solutions are more modular and a fitting collection of them is employed in each
instance, which reduces employment in segments of the sector.
105
7
The Swedish ICT sector today
Eric Giertz
This chapter presents a unique study that divides the ICT sector into new business logic
segments that reflects a modern ICT industry. The resulting picture provides a
significantly better position to understand the composition and development of the ICT
sector in Sweden.
7.1
Introduction
After the massive structural changes around the year 2000 a radically different ICT sector
developed in Sweden. This new sector differs significantly from a historically more traditional
computer and telecommunications industry. Formerly the ICT sector in Sweden as well as
abroad was dominated by companies that developed and manufactured goods, such as
computers, electronic components, peripherals, telecommunications systems, telephones,
consumer electronics and the like. It was complemented by software companies that developed
and licensed different software to their customers, as well as companies that managed the
computer systems. Today, however, the ICT sector consists – even in a narrowly defined
definition – of a variety of companies with completely different business logics and business
focus.
This chapter provides an overview of how the whole ICT sector in Sweden is divided among
companies with different business focus. The quantitative starting point is in a unique analysis
of the ICT sector in Sweden, conducted on behalf of VINNOVA in 2013 89. All limited
companies with more than five employees who have ICT as their core business were reviewed.
A uniqueness of this study is that it divides the ICT sector into business logic segments that are
not present in traditional statistics. This provides a significantly better position to understand the
composition and development of the ICT sector in Sweden, but it provides limited opportunities
for comparison with the situation in other countries, such as Finland, as the corresponding
statistics do not exist outside of Sweden.
The information and communication technologies are basically impregnating every single
industry and every single business. That means that the definition of the ICT sector is by no
means simple or obvious. In the study, that is the base for this chapter, all included companies
have ICT as their main activity. However all sales companies, wholesalers as well as retailers,
are excluded as are call centers and education and training companies, even though they can
build their competence and business model on ICT. In addition all companies with less than
five employees were excluded. Despite this delimitation, the study involves a total number of
2,740 companies with 132,142 employees distributed over 4,332 different workplaces around
89
Giertz Eric, Levén Per, Sörensson Robert & Lougui Monia: Företag inom informations- och kommunikationsteknik
i Sverige 2007-2011, VINNOVA Analys VA 2013:07
106
Sweden. Given that the study uses the full-time equivalent as a measure to quantify the number
of employees, the number of physical persons employed in the sector is considerably higher –
approximately at least, 160,000. Despite the important economic recession, the companies
register an almost 13% increase in employment during the five years period. The expansion is
most notable among the consultancy and the software companies.
The ICT sector in Sweden is thus in itself a rapidly growing sector of the Swedish economy.
But the ICT sector as a whole is also characterized by structural changes, sectorial shifts and
great dynamics. Many companies have been acquired by foreign corporations. Indeed, during
the period 2007-2011, the number of employees belonging to foreign-owned companies
increased from some 40,000 employees to reach almost 50,000. The dynamics is also
manifested in a relatively large number of companies registering a loss during a single year.
This mainly concerns software, utility and hardware companies that are in the early stages of
their product life cycle. Moreover, the loss also involves firms being unable to handle the rough
competition in later phases of a life cycle.
The ICT sector in Sweden is dominated by different kinds of software and service companies.
Less than one quarter of the employees is employed in a hardware company among which
Ericsson occupies a very dominant position. In addition, the majority of these hardware
companies, like Ericsson, are becoming more likely to include software and services in their
deliveries, which of course even more underlines the importance of software and services in the
Swedish ICT sector today. The number of employees working in companies delivering
different kinds of software and services are divided almost equally on three different segments
with different business models; Software & Net Services, IT operations & Maintenance
respectively ICT Consultants.
Figure 7.1: Employees in the ICT sector in Sweden 2011 divided on the eight different subsegments used in this chapter
Software
Net Services
Service and Maintenance of ICT systems
ICT operations
ICT consultancy firms (Commercial
systems)
ICT consultancy firms (R&D related)
Hardware (Components)
Hardware (Complete products and
systems)
107
Table 7.1: Number of employees, work places and companies in different sub-segments in the
Swedish ICT sector 2011
BUSINESS SEGMENTS
EMPLOYEES
%
WORK
PLACES
%
COMPANIES
%
SOFTWARE
22,193
16,8%
981
23,2%
744
27,3%
NET SERVICES
16,067
12,2%
568
13,4%
223
8,2%
SERVICE AND MAINTENANCE OF
ICT SYSTEMS
13,428
10,2%
418
9,9%
106
3,9%
ICT OPERATIONS
14,402
10,9%
299
7,1%
132
4,8%
ICT CONSULTANCY FIRMS
(COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS)
24,746
18,7%
1,091
25,8%
775
28,4%
ICT CONSULTANCY FIRMS (R&D
RELATED)
12,710
9,6%
482
11,4%
370
13,6%
HARDWARE (COMPONENTS)
24,152
18,3%
198
4,7%
194
7,1%
HARDWARE (COMPLETE
PRODUCTS AND SYSTEMS)
4,444
3,4%
196
4,6%
185
6,8%
132,142
100,0
4,233
100,0
2,729
100,0
SUM
7.2
Hardware companies within the ICT sector
The segment Hardware Companies is the only segment within the ICT sector in Sweden that
shows declining employment. In 2011, it covered 382 companies with 32,418 employees in
Sweden. The reason for the decrease in employment in the hardware segment is not due to fact
that many manufacturing companies now are producing a large share of services. All employees
in companies that develop and/or manufacture physical products in the computer and electronics
field and in the telecommunications industry as a whole have been included in the hardware
segment, despite the fact that many of these companies now include a growing share of software
and services in their customer offerings. The hardware segment is declining since, similar to the
trend in many other European countries; the volume-oriented manufacturing of hardware has
left Sweden. In Sweden there are no longer any companies manufacturing products for
expanding global volume markets such as semiconductors, displays, computers or consumer
electronics. This production did to a very large extent move to Asia in the 2000s.
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Figure 7.2: Number of employees in the hardware segment 2007-2011
Hardware (Complete
products and systems)
Hardware (Components
Hardware companies making complete products and systems
In 2011 there were 187 companies with a total of 24,652 employees at 223 workplaces in
Sweden who developed some kind of complete ICT products or systems. The very dominant
company was Ericsson who then had over 17,000 employees in Sweden, i.e., over 70% of all
employees in companies within this business segment.
Ericsson has its foundation in the development and manufacturing of telecommunications
systems. The customers are mainly telecom operators around the world. However Ericsson no
longer defines itself as a mere supplier of products, but more as a service provider. Ericsson
manages outsourced operations for telecom operators in many countries. Nowadays, around
40% of Ericsson's revenue comes from such services. Service output is now engaging over half
of Ericsson's approximately 100,000 employees worldwide. Technological development,
coupled with Ericsson's business reorientation, has led to Ericsson's direct employment in
Sweden continuously declining during the 2000s, although the number of employees in the
global Ericsson group has in the past decade fluctuated around 100,000. During 2007-2011 the
number of employees in Sweden decreased with over 800, which accounted for over 70% of the
decline in this business segment as a whole. Ericsson's cutbacks in Sweden have also continued
in recent years.
However, Ericsson does not only play an important role in the ICT sector in Sweden through its
direct employment. As noted in the previous chapters, Ericsson's development and manufacturing of telecommunications systems have had a major indirect impact on the entire ICT sector
development in Sweden. Ericsson is still a major supplier, partner, customer and contractor for
many other ICT companies in Sweden, i.e. telecom operators, manufacturers of parts and
components, contract manufacturers and not least technology-oriented ICT consultants involved
in the development of future telecommunications systems.
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Ericsson has also contributed to early and rapid penetration of new ICT communications in the
Swedish society. Ericsson's existence has meant a lot to the very early adoption of new
technology at Swedish-based companies in various industries, as well as in infra service
providers, government agencies and for the fast penetration of new ICT solutions among the
Swedish people in general. So Ericsson has contributed to a flourishing environment and the
birth of an interesting test market in Sweden, which attracts foreign, global companies in the
ICT sector to establish in Sweden. Ericsson's presence has also been of great importance for the
establishment and development of research and education in universities and research institutes.
Ericsson is still a very important node in the ICT clusters formed in Sweden, especially in Kista.
Alongside Ericsson there are a handful of major companies in the ICT sector, with a few
hundred employees each in Sweden, which manufacture complete products and systems. It is
mainly companies that are spun off from the Swedish engineering industry, particularly Saab,
and are now parts of different foreign-owned corporate groups. These relatively high-tech and
development-intensive companies appear to be largely retained and developed in Sweden even
after the acquisitions. There are also a number of relatively newly established Swedish
companies, which have been successful players in their respective markets. This applies e.g. to a
number of med-tech companies, which have developed high-tech products in close connection
to different research environments; Hemocue AB with 300 employees, Sectra Medical Systems
AB and Tobii Technology AB with 100 employees each in Sweden.
In Sweden there are also some research-based companies that develop and manufacture
complex machines and equipment for the global ICT industry. The deep expertise in
microelectronics and photonics, which was built up during the 1900s in cooperation between
universities, research institutes and manufacturing companies as Ericsson, PEAB, Saab and
ABB, have survived in various research environments. This expertise has also formed the basis
for new, more or less successful companies that develop, manufacture and market machines and
equipment for the electronics industry mainly in Taiwan and South Korea. One example is the
listed company Mycronic, which was formed by merging Micronic and Mydata. Mycronic is
engaged in the development, manufacture and marketing of production solutions to the
electronics industry. It has two business areas; Pattern Generators, including mask writers and
direct writers, LDI and Surface Mount Technology equipment including pick&place and jet
printing solutions. Mycronic has around 300 employees in Sweden. Another example was
Replisaurus which was established in 2001. The latter company introduced a new technique to
manufacture semiconductors. Their potential customers were supposed to manufacture the top
conductor layer on integrated circuits using electrochemical replication instead of optical
lithography. However Replisaurus did not manage to convince the producers in Taiwan and
South Korea to abandon their proven technology, and the company went bankrupt in November
2011.
Most companies in this sub-segment are fairly stable and profitable. A few slightly larger
companies with losses are relatively newly established and development intensive, e.g. med tech
company Tobii Technology. Other development-intensive companies, such as Mycronic are
extremely cyclical and are interspersed large profits with large losses.
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Hardware companies making components
In 2011 there were 195 companies with 7,766 employees at 221 locations in the ICT sector in
Sweden that manufacture various kinds of hardware components. This sub-segment is
dominated by many small independent companies, each with around ten employees, but there
are also some larger companies with a few hundred employees.
The majority of the slightly larger manufacturers of components are however contracting
manufacturers. Several are local Swedish manufacturing facilities in major foreign corporations
who own many manufacturing units in different countries. The Swedish facilities were often
acquired by these foreign corporations when Swedish companies decided to outsource their own
manufacturing. There are also some independent Swedish companies among the contracting
manufacturers in Sweden. In total there are barely a dozen contract manufacturers in Sweden
with between 100 and 500 employees each. Among the relatively large companies manufacturing components you can also find spun-off entities that develop and manufacture
components for specific applications, e.g. Autoliv Electronics AB with around 300 employees
in Sweden. The larger companies that manufacture components are generally speaking
profitable. This applies both to Swedish-owned companies and companies spun off to foreign
corporations. Large contract manufacturers in Sweden are, with one exception, profitable.
But as mentioned this sub-segment is dominated by a number of small independent companies
with around ten employees each. Many of these small companies originates from research
environments linked both to research institutes, such as Acreo, and universities like KTH,
Chalmers, Linköping and Lund. Most companies are fairly recently established high-tech
companies in research fields like fiber optics, nano electronics, power electronics or printed
electronics. They develop e.g. control equipment, equipment for measurement and calibration,
antennas, power transistors, alarms, lasers, sensors or actuators. A few of these fairly new
research based companies have emerged on the international market and gained a position in
their specific niche market. Some have been able to develop prototypes and show a proof of
concept. Some of the latter have been able to attract potential buyers and successfully sold their
company to larger foreign corporations at an early stage. Other companies have flared up
around a new technology, such as optical fiber or solar cells, and expanded temporarily for a
brief period in the early phases of product lifecycles but then declared bankruptcy a few years
later.
The profitability of larger and more established manufacturer in this sub-segment is a contrast to
the unprofitability of the smaller companies. Half of the smallest companies with five to nine
employees, which develop hardware components, showed a negative result after financial items
in 2011. Among these companies you will find many start-ups, development-intensive and
venture capital financed companies with a high burn rate and negative cash flow. Some of them
are potential acquisition targets for larger companies and some may develop into larger
independent companies. But it is hardly likely that they will be the foundation of a Swedish
industry producing standard electronics in large volumes. That kind of mass production has
probably moved to Asia to stay.
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7.3
Software & net services
Companies within the segment Software and Net services covered 965 companies with 37,963
employees in Sweden in 2011. Overall, it's a segment characterized by increasing employment,
but also by great dynamics. The companies are becoming more and more specialized to
different application areas. In established markets there is an ongoing consolidation but parallel
to this new companies emerge, that exploit new business niches based on either new technology
or new application areas. Overall larger firms are becoming less dominant in this segment.
Employment in the largest companies is declining, but the number of companies and total
employment increases.
Figure 7.3: Number of employees in the segment Software and Net Services 2007-2011
Net
Services
Software
Software companies
In 2011 Software companies accounted for just over 27% of companies in the ICT sector but
only for 16% of employment. There is no single company that dominates, but the business
segment is characterized by the existence of a large number of relatively small companies.
Among these software companies are included companies that develop and make available basic
programs which have many end users and covers broad application areas such as operating
system and database management systems. In Sweden there are a disproportionate number of
innovative companies of this type, but overall, these companies account for a relatively small
part of the employment in this business segment. This sub-segment is characterized by
acquisitions and consolidation. When a particular application matures there is also gradual
development of worldwide oligopoly markets or de facto monopoly.
The software companies with the most employees in Sweden are Swedish based companies that
develop ERP, finance and payroll systems, CRM systems and the like. Historically, the
development of systems for business administration has laid the foundation for many new
software companies, which has licensed the use of software programs dealing with for example
accounting or payroll systems. For many people such applications are probably still today a kind
112
of archetype for software products in a software company. But in recent decades, there has been
a very powerful consolidation in this sub-sector, which has resulted in a fast declining number
of companies, who develops and licenses for example ERP systems, CRM systems or document
management systems. The barriers to entry these mature oligopoly markets are now very high.
Overall the software sector is dominated by a very large number of companies with a few dozen
or exceptionally a few hundred employees, who develop and make available programs for a
variety of specific applications. The programs can be aimed at both the consumer and the
producer market. For example this sub-sector includes companies that develop and grant the
right to use computer games. It also includes companies that develop and license advanced
calculation and simulation software to distinct groups of professionals. This sub-segment also
includes a rapidly growing pool of companies that generate revenues by launching apps of
various kinds.
Among software companies, it is natural that start-up companies have large upfront development costs and shows red numbers before a complete software program generates sufficient
revenues to generate a profit. This is also reflected in figures showing that small firms with five
to nine employees are heavily overrepresented among software companies making a loss. 33%
of the smallest software companies made a loss in 2011. But also relatively large software
companies are making a loss. About 25 of the largest companies, with more than 50 employees,
had a negative result after financial items in 2011. Some of them were in an expansive phase
and funded by venture capital. Some were rather embryonic and had a turnover of only a few
tens of millions, but losses of several tens of millions. Other, previously profitable companies
had started to expand their market. In some cases it resulted in a dramatic increase in sales but
in the short term it led to negative cash flow.
A number of unprofitable larger software companies, who were in the later stages of their life
cycle, were also identified. They were losing market shares and showed declining revenues
when their respective industry was consolidating. Several software companies with Swedish
roots have been in business one or more decades and previously conducted a sustainably
profitable business that catered to corporate customers, primarily in the Swedish and Nordic
markets. Among these companies are companies offering ERP systems, payroll systems or
purchasing and inventory systems. There are also companies offering specific systems for
different industries, such as trade companies, transport industry or financial markets. There are
also companies who have sold operating system or software systems for interactive entertainment or publishing. Many domestic companies who have worked on these maturing markets
have in recent years have lost market share, significantly reduced their turnover and turned
unprofitable.
Net Services
This business segment includes the telecom operators' main activities. In accordance with the
selection criteria used in the referred study operators' stores and outlets were excluded, which
has reduced the number of employees. Despite this the business segment Net services covered a
total of 224 companies with 16,275 employees in Sweden in 2011. Total employment remained
stable over the period 2007-2011 but there was a shift from traditional telecom to a variety of
113
companies with different specialization. The focus is still the telecom operators, and traditional
telecom operators are the largest companies. Alongside the traditional telecom operators there
are operators originating from TV distribution, broadband and IP telephony. There are also
operators with different backgrounds, e.g., Skype who already from the start in 2003 offered
free IP telephony over the internet.
This business segment also includes companies who provide various forms of online search
services as well as companies that provide music services. It also includes companies which
develop and operate advanced technical platforms for various web-based applications, e.g.
platforms for poker or casino games used by several competing poker rooms and gaming
operators. A general trend in this business segment is an increased diversity of companies,
which provide various forms of specialized network services. The time when one operator alone
was responsible for end-to-end communications in a network is definitely over – at least in
democratic parts of the world.
This is truly a very dynamic and turbulent business segment. On the one hand you have
traditional and new international telecom operators who are competing on different deregulated
national markets. The number of employees in that sub-sector has been declining for many
decades in Sweden. On the other hand you have new companies delivering different kinds of
public net services on domestic or international markets. Blocket is an example of a domestic
(but foreign-owned) player while Spotify is an example of an international player. Generally
speaking companies that deliver network services only on the domestic Swedish market are
generally viable, whereas those around 15 Swedish-based companies that also have substantial
exports still showed a negative result after financial items in 2011. Relatively new but already
well-known companies offering global technical platforms for music services, poker games,
electronic payments and such all showed negative profit margins in 2011. The losses ranged
from a few percent up to about 30% of sales.
7.4
Maintenance & computer operations
In 2011 the segment Computer Operations and Maintenance comprised 230 companies with
24,893 employees at 738 locations in Sweden. This segment is characterized by a relatively
constant employment. This whole business segment is, compared to other parts of the dynamic
ICT sector, very stable when it comes to revenues and profits. The large majority of companies
that specialize in delivering service and maintenance of ICT systems and infrastructure or in
managing outsourced operations were profitable in 2011. This industry is, however, working
with small margins and there was more companies generating smaller losses during the
recession the years before. Within the pure service business there has been some consolidation,
which also means that some major corporations today deliver similar service at many different
locations in Sweden. This is reflected in a relatively high number of workplaces per company,
despite the fact that computer operations are concentrated to fewer and larger work places. In
total there are 3.2 times more workplaces than companies in this segment, compared to a factor
of 1.4 for all other segments.
114
Figure 7.4: Number of employees in the segment IT-operations and maintenance 2007-2011
ICT operations
Service and Maintenance of
ICT systems
Service and maintenance of ICT systems
This business segment includes companies providing installation, maintenance and updates as
well as repair and maintenance of their clients' hardware and software systems. In 2011 there
were 107 companies with 12,152 employees at 423 locations with this business focus in
Sweden. Some of the companies are fairly large corporations with many similar branches in
different parts of Sweden and, in some cases, also in other Nordic countries and the Baltic
States. Many of the companies offer a wide range of products and services in order to build and
maintain their customers' entire ICT infrastructure. Among the companies engaged in the
servicing and maintenance of ICT systems you also find specialized companies providing
service and maintenance of their costumers’ physical networks. These companies can in some
cases be geared towards servicing both telecom and electricity networks.
Outsourced computer operations
This business segment includes companies that are spun off from larges groups in different
industries. Those former computer departments are often responsible for the parent group's
entire ICT operations but can also have customers outside the group. This segment also includes
a relatively large number of network operators, data service bureaus and data centers with
slightly different business focus. In 2011 there were a total of 123 companies in Sweden with
this business focus. In total, they had 12,741 employees at 315 different locations. In a way this
business segment is in fact even larger than is shown by these figures, since many corporations
in different industries have not spun off their ICT operations to separate companies. ICT
departments that are not separate companies do not show up in the statistics and are of course
not included in the study. This means that ICT departments at companies like SEB and H&M,
with approximately 1,000 employees each in Sweden, are excluded.
115
7.5
ICT Consultancy Companies
ICT Consultancy is in terms of employment by far the largest and the fastest growing segment
in the Swedish ICT sector. In 2011 there were 1,127 ICT Consultancy firms, with more than 5
employees. Only companies working exclusively with ICT as their main business focus were
included. This means that the number of consultants dedicated to ICT-related work was
deliberately greatly underestimated. There are a substantial number of large consultancy
corporations with a diversified business focus. Some of them have subsidiaries or separate
business units dedicated to work in the ICT business segment, which were not included in the
study (see chapter 12.1). There are also a lot of small consultancy companies with less than 5
employees that were excluded. Still the identified companies had a total of 36,868 employees on
1,600 different locations in Sweden. During the period 2007-2011 the number of employees in
those companies almost increased by 40 %. Generally speaking the ICT Consultancy segment
has undergone heavy consolidation and globalization during the last decades, but there is a great
difference between the majority of ICT consultancy companies engaged in developing
commercial or management systems and R&D related ICT consultancy companies developing
embedded systems in their costumers’ products or production systems.
ICT consultancy is the business segment with the highest percentage of profitable companies. It
is not surprising given that they do not make large investments in the development of their own
programs, products or systems, but instead they charge their work to the customers. The low
percentage of companies making a loss is surprisingly stable over the entire period 2007-2011.
The vast majority of consulting firms seems to be able to adapt the number of employees, so
that the billing rate can be kept high also in economic downturns.
Figure 7.5: Number of employees in the ICT Consultancy segment 2007-2011
ICT Consultancy firms
(R&D related)
ICT Consultancy firms
(Commercial systems)
ICT Consultancy firms engaged in developing commercial or management systems
In the study 764 ICT consultancy companies, which primarily offer services related to
commercial and management software solutions, were identified. In total they have 24,471
116
employees at 1,101 different locations in Sweden. The number of employees in this segment is
constantly increasing, but below the surface there is a great turbulence. During the last decades
the segment has undergone heavy consolidation and globalization. In fact today the consultancy
sector as a whole is the most international industry in Sweden and the segment of commercial
ICT-consultancy firms is no exception. On the contrary the segment is nowadays dominated by
around ten international corporations, which employ more than half of all employees in Sweden.
Most of them have foreign owners and their corporate head quarter is located abroad.
Among these consultancy giants you will find international groups that have established
themselves in Sweden through acquisitions, i.e. Finnish Tieto, Canadian CGI and French
Capgemini. They have acquired Swedish companies that originated from the Swedish ITdepartment outsourcing movement that was initiated in the 1960s. One example of such an
outsourcing activity was the creation of Datema, by the Johnson Group. Datema swiftly added
external projects to its previously strictly internal order bookings. The remains of Datema now
belong to the Finnish ICT company Tieto, which also acquired many other Swedish ICT
consultancy companies. In 1999 Tieto acquired Enator, which was a merger of numerous
outsourced IT departments from both public and private sector. Tieto also acquired Entra Data
in the same year.
At present Tieto has some 14,000 employees, of which 3,400 are employed in Sweden. The
forming of CGI in Sweden has many similarities with Tieto. CGI acquired Logica in 2011,
which in turn previously had acquired WMdata in 2006. WMdata was founded in 1969 and
grew extensively by acquisitions during the 1990s. CGI is a global Canadian company with
some 68,000 employees worldwide.
The French consultancy company Capgemini, including the subsidiary Sogeti, has also
established itself on the Swedish market by acquisitions. Data Logic was acquired in 1988,
Accept Data in 1989, Sypro in 1990 and Programator in 1992. Sogeti has more than 20,000
employees, of which 1,125 in Sweden. Furthermore the Group has about 1,300 employees in
Sweden working under the Capgemini brand. Today Capgemini is one of the largest ICT
consultancy companies in the world with around 110,000 employees.
Gradually, the consolidated companies have shifted their business focus from computer
operations and in house software development towards more generic consultancy services and
configuration, installation and integration of different software from vendors like Swedish IFS,
SAP, and nowadays also Microsoft. Thus the consolidated companies' business models have
become less and less reliant on computer operations or licensing of software and increasingly
reliant on consulting and software development services. In some cases this shift in core
business and the following refinement has led to divestments. For example, in 2005, Sogeti sold
its business area within outsourced ICT operations to Norwegian EDB.
The Norwegian ICT group EVRY, which was formed in 2010 by the merger of EDB and
ErgoGroup, today has substantial business in Sweden. The group was formed through mergers
and acquisitions of 70 ICT companies mainly in Norway. EVRY was established in Sweden in
2001 through the acquisition of SJ Data and has subsequently made further acquisitions in
117
Sweden. Today, the British private equity company Apax owns the EVRY Group. EVRY has
more than 10,000 employees, of which about 1,000 in Sweden.
Other major players in the ICT consultancy sector emerged when hardware and software
companies integrated forward and formed specialized consultancy companies. Hence companies
like Tieto, CGI and Sogeti nowadays compete with for instance IBM Consulting, which also
includes former PWC Consulting that was acquired in 2002. Currently IBM has more than
420,000 employees, including roughly 2,700 in the Swedish consultancy operations. Another
American consulting group with significant operations in Sweden, Accenture, has more than
200,000 employees in 120 countries, of which about 900 in Sweden.
One interesting question is related to the possibilities for large international consultancy
corporation to build some kind of structural capital that increases the efficiency and quality of
an individual consultant. Can large corporation invest in common methods, models and data
bases that supports the efficiency, quality and competitiveness in the whole group and gets all
consultants to reuse good work done by colleagues around the world and also work in the same
manner wherever they are located. So far surprisingly little seems to be done in large groups
that have mainly grown by acquisitions. Acquired subsidiaries often seem to be allowed to work
in more or less an unchanged manner also after the acquisition. American corporations, which
have mainly grown organically, seem to be on the front of this development. Arguably
Accenture is the ICT consultancy group that has invested the most in building structural capital.
In 2011 there were still a small number of independent Swedish ICT consultancy companies in
this segment with approximately 1,000 employees each in Sweden. They still had their main
activities in Sweden but had started some internationalization. These included Acando, Knowit
and Connecta. In 2014 however Acando merged with Connecta to form a new consultancy
company with around 1,900 employees.
There are a large number of independent smaller companies, providing similar services in local
markets, alongside with the major companies mentioned above. Consultancy companies with a
partly different origin and orientation have been included in this specific segment of ICT
consultancy companies. Some of them are Swedish consultancy companies with their roots in
the production of websites during the late 1990s. Some of them have developed into
professional digital agencies, with a few hundred employees each in Sweden. On behalf of their
customers' they develop strategies and digital communications solutions. One example is the
Norwegian company Creuna, which established its operations in Sweden through the
acquisition of Razorfish’s (formerly Spray’s consultancy operations) remains after bankruptcy
in 2002.
R&D related ICT consultancy firms
Alongside ICT consultancy firms working with different kinds of commercial or management
systems there are ICT consultancy companies more focused on pure technology, such as the
development of embedded systems in their customers’ products or production processes. ICT
consultants with this business orientation are a kind of external R&D departments to their
customers. Larger companies in this sub-system have several locations and typically each
118
location is specialized on specific applications and customers. The specialized workplaces are
also typically located close to major customers. In many cases consultants are working
extensively in their customers' physical environments.
In 2011 there were 363 companies with 12,397 employees at 499 locations in Sweden, working
with ICT consulting in pure technical applications. In addition there are a number of large
consulting companies with a different main business focus that also compete on this market, but
they are not included in this study (The R&D related ICT consultancy segment is presented in
chapter 12.2-12.4).
A handful Swedish owned companies dominates this sub-segment, but there are also many
small companies with this specialization. They have developed embedded systems and Internet
of things in many Sweden-based groups in various technology-intensive industries. Most of
them still have most clients in Sweden even if the larger companies are becoming more Nordic.
But this sub-segment is, in contrast to the ICT consultancy segments dealing with commercial
or management systems, not characterized by an international consolidation. The number of
consultants within this technical field is considerably less than in the commercial field. But they
have played, and still play, a very important role in the technological shift that Swedish industry
has undergone in recent decades. They are involved in the development of embedded systems
and machine-to-machine applications (Internet of Things). This important development, as well
as the role of the consultants, is therefore dealt with in detail in two separate chapters in this
report (chapter 12 and 14).
7.6
An extreme concentration to the Stockholm region
The ICT sector is represented in almost all regions of Sweden, but the concentration to the
Stockholm area is remarkably high. Companies in Stockholm County account for almost half of
all employees.
119
Figure 7.6: Companies and work places distributed on different municipalities in Sweden
Software
Net Services
Service and Maintenance of ICT
systems
ICT operations
ICT consultancy firms (Commercial
systems)
ICT consultancy firms (R&D related)
Hardware (Components)
Hardware (Complete products and
systems)
Note: The volume of a ball is in proportion to the number of full time equivalents at one work place.
The concentration to the Stockholm County is remarkably high for almost all different business
segments. Six out of eight business segments have 50% or more of their employment in the
county. The most divergent business segment is Hardware companies manufacturing
components. Only 23% of employees in that segment are found in the Stockholm County. This
120
is mainly because contract manufacturers are evenly distributed to smaller cities across the
country. Another segment with slightly less concentration to Stockholm is R&D related ICT
consultancy companies, with 35% of employees in the Stockholm county. Most major R&D
related consultancy companies have many specialized offices located close to their customers in
different industries, such as automotive, aerospace, defense, automation and food processing
industry. It is therefore hardly surprising that that business segment is more represented in
industrial centers in other parts of the country.
The strong concentration of the ICT sector to the Stockholm area is even more prominent when
comparing the number of employees relatively to the number of residents aged 16-64, where the
county of Stockholm has a ratio twice as high as any other county. Approximately 6% of the
inhabitants in the county of Stockholm are employed by companies in the narrowly defined ICT
companies. Other counties with a relatively high proportion, just over 2%, are the counties
Östergötland, Blekinge, Västra Götaland and Västernorrland. These are counties, who like the
Stockholm, has a natural connection to universities and/or research institutes with a strong focus
on ICT. The employees in these institutions are not included in the current data but they
represent essential components in the local ICT clusters.
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8
Nordic gaming
Kent Thorén, Annu Kotiranta, and Bryan Pon
This chapter describes the video game sector as a subcategory of software and net services.
It covers the development in the Nordic region, including brief accounts of the origins and
history of the industry in the different countries. Mobile gaming apps are studied in a way
that enables direct comparison between Finland and Sweden. This chapter also mentions
the key companies and their role in shaping the industry we see today. Sweden and
Finland are the main video game exporters in the Nordics. The balance was originally that
the Swedish industry was about twice the size of the Finnish in terms of aggregated
revenues. However, recently tremendous growth in Finland has led to a shift in leadership,
where Finland is now the bigger player. The Finnish industry revenues are extremely
dominated by Supercell with mobile game hit titles like Clash of Clans and Hay Day. The
Swedish industry is also quite concentrated, but there is a larger number of big firms and
a much greater share of revenues coming from console and PC games.
8.1
Setting the scene
Games and entertainment may not be the first thing associated with the ICT sector. However, in
some Nordic countries video games are actually the fastest growing subsector within the ICT
sector as well as within the economy as a whole. It represents a fairly new and commercially
promising application of software and net services. Targeting a global export market, video
games sales are today growing fast and quickly increase in economic importance.
This chapter examines the emergence of a thriving video game industry in the Nordic region
and its background. Particular attention is being paid to the dominating nations, Sweden and
Finland. In addition, the Swedish industry will be examined further in the next chapter, which
goes into deeper analysis of the mechanisms behind its long standing success on the
international scene.
8.2
Definition, structure and history of the sector
Video games can be defined as electronic games that generate visual feedback on a video
device. The industry ecosystem contains three main types of actors: hardware providers, game
(software) developers and publishers. 90
The hardware systems for playing video games can be organized into three platform categories:
hardware specialized for games (referred to as consoles), generic PCs, and mobile, handheld
devices. The consoles have always been supplied by handful of global companies based in
Japan or in the US, e.g., Sony, Magnavox, Atari, Sega, and Nintendo. Similarly, PCs and mobile
90
Dymek and Rehn (2003).
122
phones are typically provided by very large firms in more or less the same countries. However,
the actual manufacture of video game hardware tends to be located to low cost countries, in line
with general global manufacturing trends.
Publishers have two roles, they help market the games and they can help finance the development efforts. Like the hardware business, publishing is also dominated by a small number of
global firms, but geographically it is more diverse with a larger European presence. In Europe
there are significant publishers in France and UK. Sweden, Italy and Hungary also have
publishing business but to a smaller extent. Since the publishers deal with digital products, they
normally have a global market scope. The focus in this chapter is nevertheless game
development, because in the Nordic region the publishing business is very small and game
hardware production is non-existing.
The early history of video games has been well described in books, academic theses 91 and even
documentaries like Video Games: The Movie. 92 Building on technical breakthroughs and early
experiments on computers in scientific environment, the first commercial videogames emerged
in the early 1970s. Pong is considered by most game historians to be the first successful game
title. It was released by Atari in 1972 on coin operated arcade machines.
In the mid-1970s, arcade games started to penetrate the household market with consumer
machines. This was an important milestone for the industry as the home consoles came with a
separation of hardware and software, making it possible to play several games on the same
machine. Instead of being programmed into the console, like for coin-operated arcade machines,
each game was stored on a cartridge that could be bought separate from the main hardware. To
change game users simply switched cartridge in the console and could continue play using the
same infrastructure for video and sound. With this separation it also became possible for other
companies than the console manufacturers to provide the software, triggering the establishment
of independent game developers.
However, the most important enabler for a global growth of demand and supply probably came
with the personal computer, in particular when it became more common in consumer segments.
It meant both that the market for games broadened enormously with several new customer
groups, and that anybody with programming skills could attempt to make games. Gaming
became a wide-spread pastime, primarily among young men. Another important milestone was
the introduction of rewritable software storage in the early 1980s. With a home computer,
magnetic tapes and discs could be used to share games with friends and at informal copyparties. The number of people playing grew dramatically, but the number of titles played by
each consumer even more so. It became possible to own hundreds of games, which was not
realistic when people were limited to the consoles. New games emerged making game play
appealing for more or less everyone.
91
92
For example: Kline et al. (2003), Sandqvist (2010), and Wolf (2015).
Snead (2014).
123
8.3
Nordic Video Games
With the separation of hardware and software, rewritable software storage and an early spread
of home computers in the late 1980s and early 1990s, came attempts of creating video games in
the Nordic region. It was in this environment that the first significant game companies were
established, e.g., Atod, ITE Media (Denmark), Funcom (Norway) and Digital Illusions. Some of
these managed to achieve longer term survival, in contrast to nearly all the earlier firms who
managed to make a small number of games at best. An industry slowly emerged as a handful of
additional firms got established each year.
Given today’s success of games such as Minecraft, Battlefield, Wordfeud (Norway), Ground
Control, Candy Crush Saga, Angry Birds (Finland) and Clash of Clans (Finland) it may be
surprising to hear that the Nordic contries were late at entering the global game industry. Except
for a few small companies active in the 1980s (mostly discontinued), the first major releases
came almost three decades after the pioneering efforts in USA and Japan by console and arcade
game produces, e.g., Atari, Magnavox, Activision, Taito, and Namco. Instead, Scandinavian and
Finnish enthusiast in digital entertainment were mostly active in informal groups, producing
hobby multi-media software “demos” that were advanced for that time but did not allow user
interaction.
In the early 1990s the Nordic studios mostly created games for home computers, such as the
Amiga, rather than for consoles. This gradually changed, possibly because the release of
globally successful games, and increasing publisher attention, made a wider range of platforms
reachable. During year 2000 the first Scandinavian megahits were released, Hitman: Codename
47 (IO Interactive, Denmark) and Europa Universalis (Paradox Interactive, Sweden). These are
believed to have had a big impact, inspiring young people to try to become game developers as
they learned that international success was possible with a global mindset. 93 In 2002, the
Swedish company DICE launched Battlefront 1942, which was their first big hit, although it
was preceded by a number of popular pinball and racing games. These games had a number of
sequels and the game Hitman was also made into a Hollywood movie. These megahits were
probably instrumental for the Nordic game industry, as they inspired nascent studios and latent
entrepreneurs. Many wanted to make AAA games (those having the largest development
budgets and most promotion) and they were supported by foreign investments and acquisitions.
This international involvement also helped making the industry more professional.
Sweden and Denmark were initially the leading Nordic countries in game production, even
though Denmark has not been able to sustain its early foothold in the AAA segment. Overall
growth has therefore also been much slower than in Sweden, but some praised artistic games
like Limbo (Playdead) have helped Denmark to stay significant on the international scene.
The Norwegian industry is still very small, with revenues about 1/20 of Sweden’s, but it has
generated some internationally appreciated games, like Age of Conan (Funcom), kickstarterbacked Among the Sleep (Krillbite) and Fun Run (Dirtybit). 94
93
94
Konzack (2015).
Virke Produsentföreningen (2015).
124
While the Swedish game development industry has received a lot of attention, it is still rather
small, in absolute size, as compared to the main countries. Its workforce is about one tenth of
that in the UK industry, and about a quarter of that of the American publisher Electronic Arts
alone. And while the top Swedish firms like DICE sells tens of millions of copies of the
Battlefield series, Nintendo has sold 4 billion games to date. 95 Still there is little doubt that
Sweden has an exceptional video game industry. Not only is it large relative to the country’s
size, it is also internationally admired for its creativeness and high-quality. 96 In many ways, the
persistent international success of Swedish video games mirrors the country’s music industry:
Sweden doesn’t have the largest number of artists, but it has many of the great ones.
Before the formation of an industry in Sweden, it appears that some of the few Swedes who
actually were game programmers got employed in British companies, where industry formation
happened about half a decade earlier. 97 The early development in Sweden follows the same
patters as in the rest of the Nordics with independent demo groups like the Silents forming game
development companies, in this case Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment, or DICE.
In 1997–1998, things started to gain momentum. A much larger number of firms were launched
at this time (Figure 8.1). For instance, what would become well-known game companies like
Avalanche Studios, Starbreeze, and Aniware. In 2000–2001, nearly 20 companies were started
in the Swedish industry per year, doubling the number of game developers. However, from
2004 until about 2007, the development was less dramatic with growth rates comparable to
similar industries like software, film and video.
Figure 8.1: The estimated number of Swedish video game companies
110
100
90
Lighter color: Incorporated firms
Darker color: Other corporate forms
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
Source: Sandqvist (2010).
Generally the industry was not yet profitable. 98 In 2008–2009, the industry was affected by the
financial crisis. 99 The demand for games decreased, especially in the US, and because of the
95
Sweden.se (2014).
Alexander (2014) and Arnroth (2014).
97 Sandqvist (2010).
98 Sandqvist (2010).
99 Leijonhufvud (2009).
96
125
falling financial markets several development projects were unable to maintain sufficient
funding. The turnover, number of firms and number of employees decreased somewhat. Among
others, the renowned developer Grin went bankrupt. Since 2010 the industry has been growing.
Among the Nordic countries it is primarily Finland that has a development that is similar to
Sweden’s. Supreme Snowboarding (Housemarque), released in the end of the 1990s was the
first Finnish game reaching international best-selling level. In early 2000s, Finnish companies
had some success in PC and console games. The largest game-like online success was Habbo
Hotel by Sulake, a social network and online community for teenagers opened in 2001. Another
big hit was the Max Payne shooter game series (Remedy Entertainment), winning multiple game
of the year awards and being released as a movie in 2008. 100
But the Finnish gaming industry really started to take off with Rovio’s Angry Birds launched in
2009. However, the origin of mobile games in Finland was probably Nokia who in 1997
included Snake, a simple mobile game, to its phones. Then, around year 2000, Nokia started to
develop N-Gage which was a mix of a phone and a handheld gaming device. Despite its support
for games from e.g., HouseMarque and Remedy, Nokia was arguably more focused on
international companies such as Activision (e.g., Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater) than local developers
for the N-Gage. The device nevertheless aroused local developers’ interest in mobile gaming
and several experiments were conducted in the early 2000s both in relation to N-Gage and the
then heatedly debated WAP protocol. N-Gage was released in 2003 and updated in 2004; with
only two million sold devices, N-Gage was a commercial failure and it was discontinued in
2005. It nevertheless managed to plant an important seed in Finland.
Figure 8.2: Turnover in the Finnish video game industry
1800
1600
1400
1200
SuperCell
1000
Rovio
800
Fingersoft
600
Other Companies
400
200
0
2008
2010
2012
2014
Source: Neogames.
Lately, the Finnish fame revenues have grown enormously, particularly because of the bestselling mobile games from Supercell and Rovio which account for approximately 95% of the
turnover (Figure 8.2). These giants are among the global leaders in the mobile sector, but there
are also numerous other Finnish developers, like Fingersoft and Frogmind that are much
100
Mäyrä (2015).
126
smaller but make many interesting games. Most Finnish firms are young; 69% of the 260
companies active in the end of 2014 were less than five years old. 101 During these five years the
number of employees in the sector has doubled and the turnover increased with almost
18,000%. Consequently Finland has caught up with Sweden and now has higher game revenues
(Figure 8.3).
Figure 8.3: Turnover of video game companies in Finland and Sweden (millions of Euro)
2000
Finland
1800
1600
1400
1200
1000
Sweden
800
600
400
200
0
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Source: Neogames for Finland. Mojang’s turnover 2014 estimated by previous year’s market share. When discussing
Finland’s catch-up with Sweden, it should be noted that the games of publisher-owned companies like Massive and
DICE has much larger actual sales figures than what is indicated in annual reports. For example,
Dataspelsbranschen (2015) estimates the sales of Battlefield 3 (DICE) to be 11 times higher than the studios total
reported turnover of about 85 million euro.
Despite the fast growth of the sector, the gaming industry remains to be a minor component in
the Finnish national economy. Currently, there are about 260 Finnish game companies
employing 2500 persons. 102
101
102
Tekes (2015).
According to the industry association Neogames: http://www.neogames.fi/en/
127
Tekes has played an important role in supporting the gaming industry through funding and
providing networking opportunities. Since 1995, Tekes has funded the games industry by some
€60 million. The volume of the currently running Tekes programme Skene is roughly €70
million, of which €30 million is directly funded by Tekes. 103 The public infrastructure includes
also more than 20 educational institutions that provide education in game development.
The Nordic game studios have received much positive attention for their high game quality. 104
A number of world-class games are made in the region and it more or less dominates the
specific subsector of mobile games. Five of the ten most downloaded mobile games in 2014
were from Nordic game companies and four of the seven richest game millionaires made their
fortunes from them. 105 At the time of writing, Norway, Finland, and Sweden have the highest
average user scores on PC games reviewed at metacritic.com in 2015 and 2014 (compared to the
renowned video game nations USA, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, and Australia).
8.4
Finnish and Swedish success in mobile gaming apps
Since video games are not well-captured in the current industrial classifications, 106 global
comparisons of national gaming industries are difficult. For the purposes of this report, Bryan
Pon, at the University of California, provided a Nordic outlook on the global mobile gaming
scene.
Because complete industry data is not available, Pon used published rankings from the major
app stores to identify successful game developers worldwide. The dataset included game
developers for both the Apple iOS (including iPhone and iPad) and Google Android platforms,
across the world’s ten highest revenue national app markets – the United States, Japan, China,
South Korea, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, France, Canada, and Australia – as well as
the Finnish and Swedish national markets.
From each national market, Bryan extracted the top 400 highest-grossing apps and the top 400
most-downloaded apps on 10 July 2015. He then cross-referenced this extensive data against a
list of Finnish and Swedish gaming companies, finding 30 Finnish and 28 Swedish developers
that had made it into the top ranks. While these numbers obviously don’t include all the Finnish
and Swedish companies making mobile games, they likely include the vast majority those who
have achieved commercial success, as any app that has not broken into the top 400 in at least
one market is probably not earning significant revenue. This is due in part to the “winner-takemost” nature of the app economy, where the most popular apps earn the vast majority of the
revenue, followed by a long tail that earns very little. For example, one analysis of this “power
law” curve estimated that the highest ranked app earns 150-times more than the 200-ranked
103
http://www.tekes.fi/en/programmes-and-services/tekes-programmes/skene/services/
Clarysse (2014), Reed (2015). and Wolf (2015).
105 Ewait (2015) and Reed (2015).
106 Class 5821, publishing of computer games, exists, but even ”pure play” electronic gaming companies fall under
half a dozen other classes, such as Class 6201, computer programming activities.
104
128
app. 107 Therefore the data provide a good proxy of a nation’s commercial success in mobile
gaming, even if they do not capture the full size of the underlying industry.
To put these results regarding Finland and Sweden into context, Bryan compares these results to
his earlier work concerning 23 countries, and makes the following observations:
•
Both Finland and Sweden have a high per-capita count of top mobile gaming companies.
While the absolute numbers seem low, Finland ranked third – behind only Hong Kong and
South Korea – and Sweden eighth in terms of population density of successful studios.
•
Both countries show a strong international or “export-oriented” capability. Another way that
Finnish and Swedish gaming firms outperform the average is in their ability to develop
games with international appeal. The average Swedish company entered 4.5 national
markets, while the average Finnish company entered 4.0 markets. In this respect, Sweden
ranked the first and Finland the second among the compared countries.
Finland has a larger, but less diverse, footprint in the app markets. The sum of a company’s
apps, on both platforms, in each of the national stores, comprises its market presence or
“footprint.” If these footprints are aggregated at national level, Finland’s footprint is larger
than Sweden’s (288 vs 193), but the vast majority of Finland’s success is due to one
company, Rovio, and its Angry Birds franchise. Sweden’s total footprint is more evenly
distributed among its developers, and therefore it is more resilient to any one company’s
success or failure.
Both countries show the ability to enter markets in all regions internationally. Finland and
Sweden are both well-represented in the top app markets across North America, Europe,
and East Asia. While their presence is lower in East Asia compared to other regions, all
foreign developers have less of a presence there.
•
•
•
Finland appears to have stronger domestic demand compared to Sweden. 37% of Finnish
but only 18% Swedish companies were “domestic-only” (not present in other national
markets). The observation may be interpreted in several ways. Swedes may simply have
more international orientation. Or Finns may have unique gaming preferences that do not
extent to international markets. Or perhaps the Finnish market is simply less competitive,
which enables globally uncompetitive games to enter the top ranks.
8.5
Concluding remarks
The success of the Nordic game industry is impressive. Games from King, Mojang, Supercell,
and Rovio are at the very top on the mobile side, followed by smaller developers like Toca
Boca, Mediocre, Krillbite, Dirtybit, Playdead, and others who acquire many of the positions on
the prestigious top 100 list for game downloads.
Cross country collaboration occurs. For instance, Rovio decided to develop Angry Birds 2 in its
Stockholm studio, rather than back in Finland. It will be interesting to see the coming strides of
competition and collaboration between these two nations and what dynamics that will cause.
When it comes to dominance in the Nordic game industry, it was initially Sweden that was
about twice the size of Finland for many years in terms of game revenues. Nevertheless, Finland
managed to catch up and is, at the moment, possibly even bigger than Sweden. But it should be
107
Garg and Telang (2013).
129
noted that Sweden has a richer long term video game history with many successful titles on the
PC and console market, leading to a relatively large number of renowned AAA studios in the
country. As a result, the Swedish industry is less concentrated than the Finnish, which is heavily
dominated by only two giants in the mobile sector.
130
9
The Swedish game development
sector
Kent Thorén
While the history of Nordic game production was summarized in the previous chapter, we
here deepen the investigation of the region’s video game success, with particular attention
paid to Sweden. The research is based on interviews with journalists, industry experts,
educators and leaders at a broad selection of game development firms. This primary data
has been supplemented and cross-examined using industry reports, databases and other
sources of information. To deeply understand the mechanics of development in the
industry, it is nevertheless first necessary to complement the picture with some
information about its current state.
9.1
The Current Video Game Industry
The last two decades, a number of major changes have reshaped the circumstances for both
video game creation and consumption. When it comes to game creation, at least two of these
changes signal that the industry is maturing. 108 First, the emergence of firms specialized at
certain aspects of game development, such as middleware, graphics engines, audio, design of
3D structures etc., has occurred as technical standards has made it possible to divide game
development in tasks that can be performed independently from one another. Such outsourcing
allows game development studios to increase development speed while also balancing costs and
risks better. In some cases the specialization is almost extreme, like the American company
SpeedTree that only sells digital trees and plants. Already in 2008, 86% of studios used
outsourcing for some aspects of game development. 109 (The least mature sector of the industry
appears to be the production of mobile games, which tend use outsourcing to a rather small
extent.) A second sign of maturity is the increasing availability of production tools. For example
the game engine Unity, developed by Unity Technologies (Denmark) was released as free to use
in October 2009, substantially lowering the threshold for small “indie” firms that want to
develop full quality games.
Another change having dramatic impact on the industry was the Internet. It gave game
developers new ways of distribution and new channels for customer interaction. In the console
sector, digital distribution became a cheaper way to provide customers with software and
facilitated the forming of more substantial customer relationships. It also enabled downloadable
content, so that games could be patched or expanded directly from the device. In combination
with micro transactions, downloadable content allowed for new business models, where small
repeated revenues could be added to the upfront payment from purchase of games. In the
108
109
Christensen et al. (2004)
Game Developer Research (2009)
131
extreme form, the game itself can be for free and all the revenues come from players making ingame purchases. This is currently the dominating business model for mobile games (sometimes
combined with revenues from advertising). PC games enjoy additional benefits of the all-digital
distribution possibilities. Open online distribution platforms, like Steam (available for third
parties since 2005), meant both a reduction in piracy and the chance to profitably offer
customers smaller and cheaper games by bypassing traditional publishers and retailers. Digital
distribution has thus led to the PC sector unexpectedly coming back after facing gloomy
prospects in the beginning of the 21st century. 110
Trough the Internet game experience could be enhanced by player-to-player interaction and the
new game mode of remote multiplay. This was incorporated in many types of games, but also
led to new games with profitable business models. The most illustrative example is perhaps
massive online games like World-of-Warcraft that previously only existed as text-games called
multi-user dungeons. In the action and strategy genres, remote multiplay quickly became
popular and thus a standard feature in most games. Around such games, a competition culture
has emerged with professional and amateur players engaging in huge “e-sport” tournaments
streamed live to over 130 million viewers. 111
With the Internet came social media which brought video games into the life of mainstream
consumers. Video games have become a normal pastime for the majority of people of both
gender and all ages. Games are among the most successful applications on Facebook, which
some attributes to gameplay as being a social human activity. 112 People want to have fun with
their friends and on Facebook they can play anytime with any friend online. Moreover, social
media also supports sharing, which can aid the diffusion of games. Game recommendations and
critique often spread by twitter and Facebook, sometimes having an enormous impact on the
game sales. Being noticed in social media by Yogscast or an influential trendsetter like Felix
Kjellberg aka “PewDiePie” with 40 million followers on Youtube, is extremely valuable for
small games with limited marketing budgets. Game developers often try to exploit social media
as a means of achieving a viral spread of their game releases. Incorporating incentives for
sharing in the games, pre-launching them with Youtube videos and being active in communities
and other social media is common marketing practice today.
But perhaps the most dramatic change was the breakthrough of smartphones starting with the
iPhone in 2007. This opened up a new technical platform for video games for the first time
since the PC. However, the appmarket innovation is probably of even greater importance, as it
practically eliminated key entry barriers on the supply side. The mobility of games made it
possible to play in new contexts, activated new audiences, and prompted the emergence of a
new genre of games aimed at filling “micro sparetime” rather than providing an immersive and
interactive multimedia experience.
The new types of games occurring in response to these changes have led to massive supply-side
growth. But since they brought new audiences to the market they have also caused demand to
110
Cf. Dymek & Rehn, 2003)
Superdata (2015)
112 Kirkpatrick (2011)
111
132
grow. Often, early-moving developers have been able to capture opportunities for dramatic
profits by being among the first to offer quality games to these new audiences. For instance the
American developer Zynga successfully brought its games to Facebook early making more than
500 m$ in 2010, 113 while the Norwegian company Bertheussen (Wordfeud) and Swedish
developer King (Candy Crush Saga) have built strong profitable positions through rather early
entry on the mobile platform.
Technical entry barriers are now lower than ever.114 But despite the large inflow of new entrants
in the industry there is considerable concentration, where a small number of firms manage to
launch series of popular games and hire more and more people while the majority of firms
remain small. Industry complexity has also increased as numerous specialist actors have found
positions in the value chain, as described above. Some of these are development studios that
have narrowed their scope to assume specialist consulting roles. Other studios have broadened
their activities for instance by entering the publishing business as a way to further exploit their
contacts and digital channels (for example Paradox Interactive and Coffee Stain Studios). The
old categorization of hardware-software-publisher can still broadly describe the value chain, but
has become less applicable for labeling individual firms.
9.2
Sweden’s performance and position
Today, video game development is the fastest growing industry in Sweden, growing 522% in
revenues from 2010 to 2013. 115 According to interviewed industry experts, similar growth rates
are expected for 2014 and 2015. For instance, Paradox Interactive’s revenues in Mars 2015
amounted to 160 million Swedish kronor, or 68% of the whole fiscal year 2013. In 2014 the
industry had aggregated revenues of 955 million euro and employed 3100 people. 116 The
revenues do not include the commissions to sales channels (30% on Appstore, Google Play, and
Steam). They are also probably severely underestimated because some of the larger firms have
activities in many countries and the sales of Swedish games may not all be reported through the
Swedish business unit. The industry also expands in terms of workforce, but there is a
significant unevenness in gender (only 20% women), which a number of recent joint efforts aim
to address.
Regarding the industry structure, it is clear that even though some 20-30 firms are started every
year, a handful of firms completely dominate the industry. In fact, the three largest firms
represent more than 70% of the total industry turnover, see illustration below.
113
Boyd Meyers (2010)
Wolf (2015)
115 See Retz (2014), Dataspelsbranschen (2014) and Sweden.se (2014)
116 Based on Dataspelsbranschen (2015). Mojang’s number not being available at the time of publication, it was
estimated in this study that they maintained its 2013 market share of 31,6%. Dataspelsbranschen’s estimate holds the
turnover for Mojang as constant.
114
133
Figure 9.1: Revenue share distribution among Swedish game developers 2013
This skewness raises questions: Is this an exceptionally fast growing industry, or is it a rather
normal industry with a few outliers distorting the picture? 117 Exploring industry data from 2010
to 2013, excluding top and bottom outliers, shows that the ‘typical’ 118 firm has 16 employees,
16,5 million SEK in revenues and grows 47% per year. In addition, most of the firms are
profitable, even the smaller ones. It is hence safe to say that this industry performs remarkably
well.
In international comparison, there is a consensus among the respondents that Sweden is
outstanding when it comes to video games. While it is difficult to quantify and validate this
assertion, it is has also been reflected in various media. 119 Some even use refer to the industry
development as a “Swedish game wonder” (e.g. Danielsson, 2005).
Estimating the global video game market through a meta-study of reports from five different
international industry research organizations (Statista, Gartner, PWC, SuperData and Video
Game Sales Wiki) suggests an approximate market size of around 100 billion dollars. Sweden’s
share can be estimated to around 1,5% in 2014. When it comes to the global position it is
therefore more correct to argue that Sweden, as a producer and exporter of computer games, is
prominent among the world’s smaller nations. However, looking at the growth distribution
reveals something very interesting. After the latest financial crisis in 2008 to 2013 the collective
turnover of Swedish developers grew in average 64% per year. The corresponding figure for
global revenues on the other hand is merely 6%. This means that the Swedish industry grows
more than 10 times faster than the global! Even in the worst year 2009, Sweden’s output grew
with 22%.
Internationally, Sweden appears to hold a stronger position than its Scandinavian neighbors. In
addition to successful mobile games and acclaimed indie productions, there are also a handful of
famous AAA developers. The latter generate a lot of visibility since their games are promoted
117
Cf. Sandqvist (2010)
Excluding firms with less than 3 employees and 1 msek in revenues.
119 For example Alexander (2014), Arnroth (2013), Clarysse (2014), Deppert (2013), Reed (2015)
118
134
by large publishers such as EA, Sony and Microsoft and backed by substantial marketing
campaigns. Currently, a number of really strong titles are under release or final development
including Star Wars Battlefront (DICE), Magicka 2 (Paradox Interactive), Mirrors Edge
Catalyst (DICE), Need for Speed – Rivals (Ghost), Just Cause 3 (Avalanche), Tom Clancy’s
The Division (Massive), Mad Max (Avalanche), Wolfenstein: The New Order (Machine
Games), Minecraft on Hololens, and Warhammer Vermintid (FatShark).
Sweden’s position has been corroborated by interviewed industry experts, who often compare
Sweden and to some extent Finland with international game development “hubs” in USA,
Korea, Japan, and regions in Canada like Quebec. In addition, in 2015 Sweden was elected the
leading game developing country in Europe in for the second year in a row, in surveys
connected to the European Game Developers Conference. 120
The structure of the Swedish video game industry is somewhat different from the major nations
like USA, Canada and Japan, where most of the largest developers (in turnover) also are
publishers and/or hardware providers (Newzoo 2015). Perhaps there would be larger similarity
between countries if these global giants active in multiple business areas were disregarded?
9.3
Drivers of success in the video game industry
Given that Sweden’s game developers appear to stand out in international comparison, it is
relevant to examine the roots of their success. Ohame argues that an industry’s key success
factors (KSF) determine the competitiveness of firms vis-a-vis each other. 121 The KSF are those
few things that enable a company to win over competitors if executed really well, even if the
performance in other less crucial areas is mediocre. So if Swedish firms perform well compared
to firms in other countries, they should be stronger at such KSF. If these KSF are identified, and
relatable to circumstances forming a differentiated technical innovation system for game
production in Sweden, it explains why Sweden has become a world class video game exporter.
The search for a common denominator of success that is applicable to all the competitors, have
a decisive relevance and is possible for firms to influence, led to the identification of two KSF.
To have success with video games it is necessary to i) make really good games and ii) reach
through the market noise.
KSF 1: Producing really good games
“The success of the industry … depend on the successes of individual companies, and
those successes will depend on the creation of video games that consumers want to play.”
(Wolf, 2015, p5)
But what makes a game good? One reason it may be difficult to specify success factors for
games, according to Tobias Andersson CEO at Turborilla, producer of Mad Skills Motocross 2,
is that they tend to be successful for reasons that vary between the titles. 122 Each game has its
own unique combination of attributes that influence its fate. However, Andersson maintains that
120
Dataspelsbranschen (2015)
Ohame (1982)
122 Andersson (2014)
121
135
the critical issue is the game experience, to provide the player with value and joy. When
discussing this issue with respondents, a few aspects tend to come up especially often. First, the
game must provide a balanced challenge level. If games are too easy they become boring. On
the other hand video game players tend to be impatient, so games need to be interesting rather
quickly. The worn-out cliché that games should be easy to learn but difficult to master still
holds true.
The second aspect regards how well the game presents the challenge as a series of interesting
choices and how well it enables the player to tightly control their activities in the pursuit of
those choices. Developers and critics often refer to “gameplay”, a concept that appears to be
broad and hard-to-define, when trying to express the quality of experience with a game. One
aspect of game play is the game design. This refers to the specification of systems for set-up,
game mechanics, level architecture, design of objects and interactions etc. These form
governing structures that frame game goals and objectives and the means available for the
player and his or her enemies to reach them. Game design also includes specifying the user
interface and controls, as well as the “physical” and visual effects connected to player actions,
like making a hole in a certain surface by shooting at it with a weapon. A credible sense of
cause and effect is essential to gameplay and players get frustrated when it is lacking. 123 But
gameplay is broader than design; it only occurs when a player actually engages in the systems
of a game world. 124 Optimally the interaction between user and game is flawless and smooth,
where game design manifests the activities of the user in a nice flow. Game design also needs to
avoid spoiling the suspension of disbelief created by the story and audiovisuals, which may
happen because of inconsistent application of game world rules or logical conflicts between
scenarios. Experience shows that gameplay is more important than audiovisuals, as proven for
instance by the enormously popular but awful-looking sandbox game Minecraft.
Under sufficient synergy between the motivator, game design, challenge levels, audiovisual
aesthetics, and a compelling story or adventure, players may form an emotional bond to the
game. Examples of feelings targeted by game designers are thrill and sympathy. These are often
utilized in combination, like in the forthcoming title Hunger by Tarsier Studios. The plot of
Hunger is to help a little girl named Six escape a labyrinth full of monsters. Artistic and original
audiovisuals enhance the impression of her vulnerability and the threatening world is
consistently portrayed from small person’s point of view. It’s easy to become engaged in
helping Six and the interesting problems arising from clever level design make the game
promising.
If the customer has an experience that is satisfying enough to create delight, which is a positive
emotional reaction, he or she may aid market noise penetration by recommending it to other
users. This is where the two KSF are connected; a really good game that delights customers can
benefit from word-of-mouth support, which under the right circumstances can cause a much
desired viral spread of a game.
123
124
Streitfeld (2013)
Björk et al. (2005)
136
But it is hard to get a word-of-mouth “buzz” around a game that isn’t innovative in some way,
so creativity also needs to be included as an aspect of game quality. Gamers love when
developers come up with something novel and unique, and they love telling their peers about it.
So game quality is linked to creativity, it helps games to exceed expectations and excite
customers. Extraordinary games benefit from good audiovisuals but do not rely on them. Instead
the value of game play and emotional affinity is so high that they can compensate for technical
shortcomings under the right circumstances, if the game is unique.
KSF 2: Reaching through the market noise
In the current market, where industry insiders claim that 500 games are launched per day on iOS
alone, it is even more unrealistic to expect great sales from an underdeveloped game. 125 On the
other hand, a good game is not sufficient; a criterion for volume sales is that millions of
consumers become aware of it. Unfortunately, the amount of market “noise” appears to be
higher than ever before.
So what options do developers have to get players’ attention? A number of different nonexclusive approaches have been observed in the industry. One group of approaches aims at
penetrating the noise, either by enormous marketing spending and/or by trying to stimulate
positive word-of-mouth spreading in social media. The former option is feasible primarily for
very large publishers such as Ubisoft and Electronic Arts. They promote their premium titles
with massive release campaigns comparable to those before a major movie premiere. Market
campaigns consist of elaborate trailers placed in purchased spots online and on TV, big
billboard campaign, in-store promotion at retailers, pre-ordering campaigns, and much more.
The latter option, however, trying to get the user community engaged in promoting the game, is
what is available for smaller studios. Pre-launch trailers can be used to create awareness around
a game and evaluate customers’ interest in it. For instance, after spending two weeks on doing a
trailer for the Goat Simulator idea, Coffee Stain released it on Youtube where it quickly got
several millions of views. This overwhelming response made the studio feel that they more or
less “had” to finish the game. Once a game is released it is desirable to get users engaged in
seeing, discussing, trying and promoting it. Many creative tricks have been used. When
launching Mirror’s Edge, Electronic Arts put up wanted posters for the main character “Faith”
at university campuses in an attempt to create attention and engage the public, as a part of the
viral marketing strategy. Given the scalable nature of social media reach, however, some trend
setters have a disproportional influence and reach enormous audiences. If someone like Markus
“Notch” Persson, founder of Minecraft tweet about a game to his over 2 million followers, or
PewDiePie plays it in a fun Youtube clip, chances for success are extremely good.
Another way to draw attention to a title is to have it praised by established experts. Favorable
reviews are valuable and getting many good reviews can lead to a high ranking at important
sites like Metacritic. Many gamers check such reviews before buying games so it is important,
especially for AAA game sales. 126 When good reviews appear in mainstream media, it may lead
to spontaneous downloads also by customers outside the games normal fan base. Developers,
125
126
Graft (2015)
Arthursson (2015)
137
especially start-ups, also often submit their games to competitions and awards, like the Swedish
Game Awards. Winning awards gives the developer attention and credibility. However, game
developers’ benefit from awards primarily by building a case for publishers or venture
capitalists, rather than to increase sales.
In parallel to penetrating the market noise, there are also a number of approaches by which
developers can try to bypass it. One way to do this is by establishing channels for direct
communication with the players. Once a studio has launched an appreciated game, they can start
stimulating a fan base and engage in interaction with it. As these fans already like the game in
question, it is probable that many of them will be interested in a similar but better game in the
future. This way of “farming” a community of users and then sell them a succession of games
over time is perhaps the most common strategy for established developers including King,
Starbreeze, Paradox Interactive and many others. If sales are good enough, the margin might
allow for diversification projects, but often developers prefer to stay rather focused trying to
improve the size of the core audience and use cross-selling to maximize the yield. While it is
necessary to already have an audience to pursue this strategy, it is rather inexpensive and
mitigates risks when launching sequels. There are other advantages too. Paradox Interactive
actively cultivates their game communities, let users create their own modifications of some
games and use forums to create a platform for listening to them. CEO Fredrik Wester argues
that this helps the studio to stay close to customers and create games with high value. In this
manner, interaction platforms can be useful for collecting suggestions and testing new ideas.
Another way to reach through the noise is provided by digital distribution, which is the
dominating way to sell games today. All the digital channels (Steam, GamersGate), mobile
marketplaces (Google Play and Apple AppStore) and console platforms (PS4, Xbox One, etc.)
have solutions to sell both games and supplementary content for download. However, because
there are thousands of games available at any given time, the chance that buyers will pick a
particular game at random is very small. Distributers therefore “feature” certain games, which
mean that they get a premium highly visible placement either on the first page or at the top in
some category. Some time after launch it is also common that games have temporary price
reductions, which can give them attractive spots on in sales or bargain sections. With some luck,
games might also get picked for the distributers’ own campaigns, like Steam’s Christmas Sale.
The volume curves for mobile game downloads show very clear peaks when games are
featured, updated, and on sale. To seize, and hold for as long as possible, favorable placements
is thus extremely valuable and the difference in sales volume compared to a regular placement
is enormous.
9.4
Innovation system circumstances that influence KSF
A way to understand the development in the industry is to view it as an evolving technological
innovation system (TIS). This is appropriate for the video game sector since both product
development and most of major changes affecting the industry concern technical progress. The
performance of a TIS, in turn, depends on how well its key functions are carried out by the
evolving set of processes in the system. Bergek et al. proposes that the functional patterns of
TIS can be described by seven different components, or functions, synthesized from a large
138
number of reviewed innovation frameworks and system approaches. 127 The functions that are
most relevant for the developments in the Swedish video game industry appear to be: market
formation, legitimation, knowledge development and diffusion, and resource mobilization.
Market formation
Market formation refers to the process of going from the very first nascent market to a mature
mass market. For the video game industry, in Sweden and globally, the steady increase in
demand is most likely an important factor for the massive growth. This demand in turn is fueled
driven by the macro trend of steadily increasing standard of living in nearly all countries,
allowing more and more people to own suitable hardware and get connected to the Internet.
All the different platforms have mature markets today, despite emerging at different times and
in different pace. For example, the early Swedish developers could benefit from an existing
game demand in the PC segment, but then had a breakthrough into the console game mass
market after the introduction of PlayStation and Xbox. The market formation for mobile games,
on the other hand, was quick with Nordic developers taking lead positions early on.
One reason for Nordic developers’ success in the global game market may ironically be their
small home markets. In countries with a small domestic demand entrepreneurs in general have
more incentive to think about worldwide export early on. Since the Swedish market only
represents 0,4% of the global video game sales, 128 it has been natural for start-ups to take the
born-global approach. 129 This is reflected in clear designs that tend to feature universally
appealing themes and can be accepted by people in most geographies.130 It has also been
suggested that the small home markets make Nordic firms more likely to focus on growth and
scalability than what is common in larger countries. 131 Benefiting from a global demand, with
online delivery services making it easy to reach out, may have been fruitful for producing big
hits in the Nordic region. 132
Even though the demand is global it does not mean that the local market is unimportant. The
Nordic markets, while small, are populated by knowledgeable and demanding users, providing
an excellent test-bed and source of early feedback for development projects.133 This can benefit
the local TIS, helping firms to produce superior products and thereby grow faster than the world
average. In the video game industry, it therefore appears that Swedish firms benefit from the
local market, without being impaired by its smallness.
127
Bergek et al. (2008)
Based on Newzoo (2014)
129 Sandqvist (2010)
130 Wolf (2015)
131 Clarysse (2014)
132 See Clarrysse (2014), Reed (2015), Wolf (2015)
133 Arnroth (2013)
128
139
Legitimation
Legitimation is a process where a TIS obtains social acceptance and institutional compliance,
thereby overcoming its liability of newness. 134 In general, Sweden has a long tradition of
success in IT and as a subsector of the IT industry video games production has been easy to
comprehend and accept as a viable business activity. Early successes in the 90s drew attention
to the pioneering firms that became seen as attractive employers and entrepreneurial role
models. Culturally, Swedes also appear to have been less skeptical compared to the Finns, who
to some extent viewed video games as unserious or inappropriate. 135 Game development as a
profession is not at all controversial today.
When it comes to social acceptance, it can be concluded that video games are now played by all
kinds of people and has become a mainstream pastime. For example, a non-traditional group of
players, women 25-55 with kids, are the core audience for King’s mobile games. 136 Consumers
hence seem to be fully accepting video games as a product, but there is still some debate
regarding two issues. The first is the striking gender inequality in games, both in regards to
games still being predominantly designed for men and also in regards to how women are
portrayed in some games. 137 Female developers also face challenges in how they are regarded
and treated in the heavily man-dominated world of game production. 138 This has led to
initiatives for increased awareness and improved equality in the industry like Diversi, a
VINNOVA backed collaboration between game companies, educational institutions and gaming
communities. In fact, the region has received international attention for its pioneering efforts in
this area.
The other issue concerns business models for mobile games. The mobile games consumers have
quickly become used to being able to play games for free, so having success with a game that
has a price for download is difficult. This problem is exacerbated by the dependence on online
market place positions for reaching through the noise. If a game cost money, it will be all but
impossible to get feature on some top lists. In the spring of 2015 49 of the top 50 downloaded
games on iOS was play for free, with Minecraft as the only exception (on place 50). As a result,
most developers rely on advertising and in-game purchases to get revenue streams. In-game
purchases is slowly getting customer acceptance, but still typically only 5% are willing to pay in
games. There have also been controversy concerning in-game purchasing in games for children
and it has been misused by developers to make customers buy and pay for much more than they
were aware of. 139 Interviewed industry actors, as well as discussions in forums and conferences,
indicate that customer trust and well-being is very important for Swedish developers and most
use in-game purchases reluctantly and carefully.
When it comes to key stakeholders other than customers, it seems that general legitimacy is
achieved enough to get work-force resources and normal supplier collaborations. The main
134
Bergek, et al. (2008)
Mäyrä (2015)
136 Byrne (2014)
137 See for instance Barkeman (2015)
138 See Mellgren (2015)
139 The industry’s concern about in-app purchasing has been discussed by Rylander (2014)
135
140
exception is the capital markets actors, who still are reluctant to engage in video games. It may
not only be a matter of legitimacy though, making large profits on games requires finding the
rare big hits beforehand, which is exceptionally difficult. Mainstream investors have yet to find
a way to pick winners and therefore they tend to avoid the industry altogether.
Knowledge development and diffusion
The development of an appropriate knowledge base is a cornerstone in the emergence of a
viable TIS. 140 Video game production requires availability of people skilled in IT as well as
good education programs that keep training new talent in sufficient numbers. Sweden has a
strong reputation for IT competence since its early IT maturity, consistently ranking in the top
of the World Economic Fourm’s measures of ability to take advantage of ICT. 141 Many writers
refer to the fast diffusion of PCs in Swedish homes and the high level of connectivity as
important conditions for the emergence of the first generation of game companies. 142 When it
comes to education programs there are a number of post-secondary level YH educations
committed to teaching practical skills and knowledge in game development. The most well
known are: Future Games (Stockholm), The Game Assembly (Malmö) and Playground Squad
(Falun). In addition, Gotland University College, Södertörn University, Blekinge Institute of
Technology, and University of Skövde all offer higher education programs focusing on, or
related to, game development. Among the major Swedish universities only a few give courses in
the area, but they do not offer complete programs. With their education students can get hired,
primarily by the larger firms. Some choose to start their own studios instead, and others move to
work abroad. According to respondents, the output from these schools now more or less
matches the volumes needed by the industry. Previously, there was too much junior talent
available, but some educations have been shut down. In most respects, these programs have
replaced hobby programmers and the former demo groups as a major source of recruitment.
However, it is also common for Swedish developers to attract employees, especially more
experienced ones, from abroad (Alexander, 2014).
An area of concern is the long term development of knowledge. There is still rather little
academic research conducted on video games and the collaboration between studios and
universities is very limited. In some cases there are platforms for collaboration where
municipalities, industry actors and universities work together, like the network around Sweden
Game Arena in Skövde. The outcome of such collaboration have been very positive and led to
dozens of new game companies.
However, a solid knowledge base is necessary, but not sufficient, for performing in the KSF of
making really good games. Instead, the competence advantage of Swedish studios seems to be
that knowledge is augmented with other competence related factors, primarily work culture,
business culture, and design.
140
Bergek, et al. (2008)
Presenting Sweden
142 Alexander (2014), Deppert (2013), Sandkvist (2010)
141
141
First, regarding work culture; respondents with an international background argue that Nordic
people rarely get satisfied with mediocre achievements. Instead, Swedish studios tend to overdeliver. 143 Per Strömbäck, spokesperson for the Swedish Game Industry, speculates that,
“maybe it has something to do with Jante or Luther, but Swedish developers tend to not get
content with their games easily”. They have very high standards for quality and focus on getting
things right before release. 144 This may also apply to the personal level, perhaps Swedish
workers take more responsibility to do well what they are supposed to rather than just following
orders? 145 The Malmö based mobile game studio Mediocre Games is a good illustration of
attitudes to quality, as the respondent entrepreneur states that they spend far more time on their
projects then the industry in general – because they believe in and want to do only very good
games.
Second, one of the most frequently mentioned differentiator compared to North America and
Asia is the business culture. Swedish video game production benefits from a corporate culture
that emphasizes the achievement of teams rather than star individuals. 146 Sweden in general, and
Swedish IT-companies in particular, enjoy flat organizational structures and informal corporate
cultures. This is proposed to be conductive to creativity and suitable for the cross-functional
work of developing games. Business culture in Sweden tends to be inclusive, open and informal
compared to other game developing nations like Canada, Japan and USA. 147 Such environments
may be favorable for the discussion of creative ideas, facilitating the invention of innovative
game attributes. Making games requires creative artists to collaborate well with specialist
programmers and game designers, who may have very different personalities and values. It has
been suggested that such collaboration benefits from Sweden’s consensus-driven management
style and culture with high inter-personal respect. 148 Being a relatively young industry, with
many firms driven by founding entrepreneurs, formal management is still a challenge.
Unsurprisingly the largest firms, especially those owned by international corporations, have the
most mature management and strategy practices.
Third, on the product level, it has been argued that Swedish-made games tend to be unusually
player-oriented in design and aesthetics, providing a superior game experience. The Nordic
design style that embraces minimalism and emphasizes practicality and usefulness is said to
contribute to the appreciation of the video games. 149 Similarly, the Swedish Institute argues that
domestic developers are “renowned for their diversity and high quality” and former game
designer Prof. Richard Learchand has argued that Swedish games seem to be designed with
great concern about the players and the game experience. 150 This diversity and creativity has led
to an impressive stream of awards, positive reviews and an admirable reputation. It is not
surprising that Swedish games have been compared to other exports for which Scandinavia is
143
Clarysse (2014)
Alexander (2014)
145 Clarysse (2014)
146 Alexander (2014)
147 See Alexander (2014) and Clarysse (2014)
148 Deppert (2013)
149 Clarysse (2014)
150 Arnroth (2013)
144
142
renowned for stylish design and usability, such as art, music and furniture. 151 Perhaps there is a
Nordic differentiator in terms of a high interest in and talent for novel and tasteful designs that
manifest itself in the videogames? Several of the respondents believe this is the case. A nice
example is the adorable game Unravel by Coldwood where you play “Yarny” a character made
of a single thread of yarn that unravels as you solve problems in breathtakingly beautiful
environments following a heart felt story to collect the memories of his long lost family.
Resource mobilization
Resource mobilization plays an important role for TIS development. Bergek et al. suggest that
the key categories of resources are competence, financial capital and complementary assets.152
Given the knowledge development in the TIS discussed above, with training programs in place
and a favorable reputation in the international labor market, it appears that the industry attracts
sufficient human capital and competence. In addition, it has been proposed that the game
industry in Sweden an in Finland have benefited from the ups and downs of large technologybased companies by getting access to additional experienced IT professionals. In particular,
there are signs that the decline of Nokia fed the Finnish game industry with talent. 153
Financial capital is another story. With a generally week seed market in Sweden and venture
capitalists being reluctant to invest in the game industry, financial resource mobilization is a
challenge (Dataspelsbranschen, 2015). There are some local venture capital firms investing in
IT and app companies, like Spiltan and Creandum, but investments in game project appears rare
even for them. Also, despite the three decades growth there has yet been few exits where
funders made large profits and reinvests as capitalist in the industry. This may be something that
is coming though. Markus “Notch” Persson (Mojang) and Tommy Palm (King) are examples on
notable recent exits. Mr. Palm has, in collaboration with several other industry leaders, engaged
in a non-profit accelerator called “Stugan”, a project for helping nascent studios. However, the
emphasis for Stugan appears to be on advice and support rather than financing.
But so far the opportunities to get funding are limited, to say the least. With these conditions it
may be expected that game developers were getting part of their financing from public support
initiatives, but this is also uncommon. One exception is the Nordic Council of Ministers, which
supported Nordic developers through the Nordic Game Program. The only other examples of
public support revealed during the interviews were Avalanche Studios and PeppyPals, who
received money from VINNOVA, and Coffee Stain and PeppyPals, who received some Almi
support.
Locally, some municipalities have fruitfully involved themselves in supporting incubators,
game companies or collaborations, like Näringslivsstiftelsen in Karlshamn and Skövde komun.
So how are most start-ups funded? There are two common patterns. The first is that experienced
developers exit their current studio to start their own, bringing knowledge and some starting
151
See for example Arnroth (2013)
Bergek et al. (2008)
153 Clarysse (2014).
152
143
cash with them. This is how Machine Games got started by people from Starbreeze and Mojang
got founded by people leaving King. Other examples are Raw Fury and Resolution Games. The
founding teams are often small, typically 2-6 individuals, with an early stage product and a
strong motivation to build their own game studio. The other common pattern is that younger
people start a project while still being students in a game education program. These teams tend
to be bigger, often 8-12 people, were some of the members may be willing to take the step of
joining thanks to Sweden’s well developed systems for social security. Respondents at such
small indie firms, spun off from game schools, often joke that initially they were “CSN
financed” (the Swedish Government authority for financial aid for studies). In addition, many
new companies try to win business or game competitions, to get some credibility and prize
money.
The most important complementary asset, and also the most important source of advantage for
Sweden, is probably provided by the industry itself. From previous success it is now abundant
with knowledge, skilled potential partners, and useful contacts with important people around the
globe. However, what differentiate Sweden from other countries is the striking generosity and
willingness to help others within the game development community. This is a tradition that has
not been observed in competing nations like Canada, UK and the USA. An important aspect of
this collaborative culture is the substantial cross-firm of sharing and support between
companies. Ola Holmdahl, CEO at Tarsier, argues that since the market is growing fast and
almost all output is exported, companies gain much from helping each other with insights,
contacts and even lending of personnel. It is not uncommon that firms also support each other
with ideas and resources. Many new firms help each other by volunteering to test games. Many
of the managers in small firms have mentors in the larger once, giving them greater access
ecosystem resources than would otherwise be the case. In fact, all the investigated start-ups have
given examples of how they received help from other start-ups and/or major studios and
publishers. Consequently growth in itself becomes a factor that favorably affects industry
circumstances in a way that improve chances of making excellent products.
Bergek et al. argue that collaborations and networks in an industry can be an important
structural component. 154 For the Swedish video game producers this definitely appear to be the
case. Nevertheless, its driven by the actors’ willingness to make efforts for the wellbeing of
their own industry. And it is important beyond improved chances of making good games; it also
affects the KSF of reaching through the noise. It turns out that many firms in the Swedish game
industry also share access to market channels and help each other with distributor contacts. The
well-connected players collaborate with others either by just freely giving the contacts or buy
actively engaging in a business relationship where they take a publisher role. But, previous
success also brings another important benefit; a reputation for good games. Reviewer and
journalist Thomas Arnroth, who has decades of international experience from the game
industry, argues that the digital channel companies like Apple likes Swedish games. The
prevailing image of creative and well designed games help putting new Swedish games on the
distributer’s radar, increasing the chances of reaching through the noise by being featured. As
Arnroth argues: “If you are good in Sweden – you are really good. Everyone knows that.” A
154
Bergek et al. (2008)
144
statement corroborated by venture capital firm GP Bullhound contemplating to open a fund
specifically for Swedish video game investments. 155
Moreover, an active and open user culture combined with tight-knit communities is very
favorable conditions for a vital game industry. 156 Such communities exist in many countries, but
it appears that both Sweden and Finland have many collaborations, conferences, networks and
events around video games. Most notable is the world’s largest computer festival Dream Hack,
arranged every year in Jönköping Sweden with over 25 000 participants. But there are many
other meeting points where friendships can be formed and skills get improved through exchange
of ideas. For example, some of the schools also support events, like the aforementioned Sweden
Game Arena, which hosts a Microsoft game camp and arranges Sweden Game Conference
2015.
9.5
Concluding remarks
This chapter validates the Swedish success in video games. It establishes that the growth rate in
Swedish revenues by far outperforms the global market growth, which means that the Swedish
market share is steadily increasing. The average yearly growth has in the last five years has been
about 270 M Euro, with several dozens of new companies typically being started each year.
It then attempts to find reasons for such success by identifying beneficial circumstances leading
to a strong TIS in the country. These circumstances, or functions, are: market formation,
legitimation, knowledge development and diffusion, and resource mobilization. All of these can
potentially support Swedish studios in dealing with KSF 1 – to produce really good games.
Superior competences like audiovisual design skills, strong Nordic work ethics and user
centered game design all contribute directly to perceived game quality. Being a legitimate
industry helps attracting talent and hopefully also capital in the future. Swedish business culture,
with flat structures and emphasis on teams and collaboration, is believed to have an indirect but
significant role in forming companies that can have repeated successful releases and accumulate
skills over the long term.
The collaborative spirit within the industry appears particularly important. It does not only aid
the development of really good games, it also facilitates reaching the market, which is what is
needed to handle KSF 2. The connections, knowledge and reputation generated by previous
success thus benefits many actors as a valuable asset. Some, like Simon Lundmark CEO at
Pixeldiet, argues that it is really the only advantage with being in Sweden. As far as this study
has been able to find out, this remarkably high degree of cross-firm collaboration does not exist
outside the Nordics. It is therefore a key differentiator that also is difficult for other regions to
imitate, and thus most likely the cornerstone of Sweden’s competitive advantage.
The prospects for the future are extremely interesting. On line distribution and off-the-shelf
hardware and software tools for game design has made it possible to develop games all over the
world. The role of national borders diminishes with increasing cross-border collaboration,
155
156
Goldberg (2015)
See Reed (2015) and Konzack (2015)
145
multinational branch office locations, and franchised intellectual property. So in some sense
“the growing shift toward transnational game development is eroding and reconfiguring the
very concept of a national industry”. 157 It remains to be seen if Sweden can maintain and
nurture its competitive advantage under such circumstances.
Major hardware developments are imminent as well. Industry experts expect that the next
radical game play enhancement will come with virtual reality interfaces such as Oculus Rift or
Samsung Gear VR. Whether this will lead to growth through new audience-game combinations
remains to be seen. In Sweden, Starbreeze is currently developing their own “Star VR” gear that
will have better performance than Oculus, after acquiring the French company Infiniteye.
Aforementioned Tommy Palm has started a new studio in Stockholm (Resolution Games) with
capital from Google Ventures that develops games specifically for VR. 158 Another more long
term hardware development is the anticipated 5G mobile networks. With much higher
bandwidth and expected latencies down towards 1ms, multiplayer action games will become
much more feasible on portable devices. It is also possible that new categories of real time
multiplayer games may emerge.
A wider application of game design is likely to occur according to authors writing on gamification. Player-generated content and free-form play is increasing and may support the
development of game elements being infused in new aspects of our lives. With gamification the
application of game mechanics can encourage people to take part in certain activities or maybe
nudge them into behaving in a certain way.
Another emerging factor that is expected to have a major impact on the industry is the increased
activity in Asia and other BRIC countries. These regions currently have the fastest increase in
demand (Dataspelsbranschen, 2014), but there are also massive investments being made. In
china, billions of dollars are invested in game companies both domestically and abroad. This
can challenge the current balance among leading nations and companies.
157
158
Wolf (2015:12)
Dataspelsbranschen (2015)
146
10 Mergers and acquisitions in the
coming-to-age phase of the
Swedish ICT services industry
Anders Broström, Monia Lougui and Fredrik Johansson
Industrial consolidation through mergers and acquisitions has been important for
development of the IT sector. M&As constituted a force of creative destruction parallel to
the mechanism of exit through bankruptcy. Drawing on new empirical evidence, we argue
that M&As also provided new impulses and opportunities for entrepreneurship and
stimulated between-firm job mobility of key persons in the sector. We conclude that the
intensive M&A-activity of the period contributed to renewal and growth of the ICT
software and services industry at large, but did not lead to the creation of new Swedishbased multinationals in the sector.
10.1 Introduction
ICT service firms played a prominent part of the “boom and bust” pattern of the Swedish
economy around the year 2000. Demand grew rapidly from a low level in the years preceding
the turn of the millennium. New entrants were recruiting directly from secondary-level
education, the skills of much of the existing workforce considered inadequate and outdated by
rapid technological change. A frantic hunt for market share ensued, driven by expectations of
rapid industry growth and of significant first-mover advantages and realizable scale economies.
With this background, many investors and entrepreneurs considered it natural to sacrifice shortterm profits to invest in technical capacity and a large international customer base. Acquisitions
became a natural vehicle to pursue such aggressive growth strategies. In the Swedish setting, a
series of rapid mergers and acquisitions (M&As) by ICT consultancies such as Framfab, Icon
Medialab, Razorfish and Sapient were upheld as prominent examples of how to succeed in what
was referred to as “the new economy”. After dramatic adjustments of the earnings expectations
and market valuation of ICT firms in the period 2000-2001, significant shake-out occurred in
the industry. However, as demand for ICT technology continued to grow across the economy,
industry employment recovered relatively quickly in a more regular industrial climate of
consolidation and exploitation of scale economies.
The Swedish experience reflected a pattern of technological and industrial development found
throughout the developed world. Figure 10.1 illustrates the dramatic increase in global M&As in
the ICT consulting and services industry in the period around the year 2000, the subsequent
drop and recovery in M&As up until 2008. Data for Sweden provides a parallel picture of
volatility in M&A activity. In this chapter, we analyse the role of M&As in the industrial
147
transformation of the Swedish ICT software and services industry during this period of postboom industrial growth.
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Figure 10.1: Announced mergers and acquisitions in the IT consulting and services
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10.2 M&As over the industrial life cycle
It is well established that M&A activity fluctuates heavily over time 159. The notion of “merger
waves” is a commonly used jargon in economic history 160. While such fluctuations are related to
macro-economic conditions, industry-specific factors have been found to play a central role 161.
Changes in the pace of technological change, policy adjustments such as regulation and
deregulation processes, and shifts in demand or supply affect industry-specific dynamics change
the condition for competition in an industry and thereby the appetite for growth through M&A
activities among firms.
In the analysis of M&As in new industries, industry life cycle analysis constitutes a useful
contextual framework. This perspective, such as presented by Williamson (1975), suggests that
there are certain characteristics in common in the development of any newly introduced
industry. In particular, a new industry is considered to go through different phases of increasing
industrial maturity: an early exploratory stage of introduction, a phase of growth, and a maturity
stage – eventually followed by a phase of decline. For the Swedish ICT software and services
159
See Blair et al. (1991), Golbe & White (1993) and Scherer & Ross (1990)
Sleuwaegen & Valentini (2006)
161 Nelson (1959)
160
148
sector, the period 2000-2008 can be characterized as a period of transition from a late
introductory stage to an early stage of industrial maturity.
M&As are typically important vehicles for change through which industries mature and are
consolidated. The motivation and wider impact of M&As may however change between the
three stylized phases of industrial development. During the introduction stage, M&As are
typically motivated by R&D-related objectives and by ambitions of product- and marketextension. Acquisitions often involve the purchase of startup firms by well-established firms in
related but more mature industry segments. During the subsequent growth phase, we see several
types of acquisitions. Established companies from one industry segment may start entering other
segments with greater frequency, looking mostly for proven and growing targets. Industryconvergence acquisitions appear and continue into the maturity stage. We may also expect to
see acquisitions driven to some extent by preemptive and “empire-building” motives, where
managers and entrepreneurs may opt to acquire a competitor rather than see this firm acquired
by another competitor. In the subsequent maturity phase, where industry growth stagnates,
overcapacity and consolidation motives dominate the market for M&As.
10.3 An overview of M&As in the Swedish ICT software and
services sector
Utilizing register-based data, we are able to study merger patterns in the Swedish ICT software
and services sector. Firms are identified as belonging to the sector based on industrial
classification codes following the OECD definition of the industry. The detailed list of the
industries and their codes can be found in the appendix. 9 341 unique firms with at least three
employees which are identified as belonging to the Swedish ICT software and services sector
for at least one year in the period 2000-2008. We identify the occurrences of M&As through
patterns of employee mobility, following the rule of thumb applied by Statistics Sweden: a
merger between two Swedish-registered firms A and B is registered as having occurred when
firm A ceases to exist in the following year and a majority of employees from firm A are found
to work for firm B in that year. Following this definition, 2 657 ICT software and services firms
go through at least one M&A process between 2000 and 2008, the total number of M&As
amounting to a full 4 001. The median size of these acquired firms is 25 employees. Interestingly, the mean size of all firms in the industry does not change much throughout the period.
Firm growth through mergers is obviously off-set by new entry of small firms and/or by lay-offs
and exits among merged firms. In addition, we observe 131 cases of mergers and acquisitions
involving foreign owned firms. All in all, approximately 5 percent of the firms are involved in
an M&A during the studied period.
10.4 M&As transform industries – but how?
The traditional business motivation for M&As is that of achieving operational or financial
synergies and of increasing a firm’s market power in monopolistic direction. Both these
objectives may potentially lead to transformations in the industry or industries involved. The
exploitation of scale economies in novel ways may allow for more efficient production of goods
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and services. The creation of monopolies may, on the other hand, reduce supply, push up prices
and hamper the speed of innovation in an industry.
Well aware of these effects, public authorities have monitored and regulated M&A activity for
decades if not centuries in virtually all countries. The attention of authorities is, however,
closely fixed to market power concerns and to upholding competition within an industry. In the
context of a growing industry in a relatively early phase of industrial development and characterized by fast technological development, such as the one under consideration here, such
concerns are typically not very urgent. This expectation is supported by available data. During
2000-2008, the Swedish competition authorities filed 51 investigations of business concentration consequences of M&As involving firms in the ICT-service sector (corresponding to 6%
of all such investigations pursued during the period). 162 Among these acquisitions several crossborder deals are found, as well as activities involving large and well-known actors from the time
such as TietoEnator, CapGemini, WM-data and Posten AB. None of these mergers were
however considered to threaten the competitive nature of the industry. The authority decided, in
each one of these 51 cases, to take no further measure to prevent the merger.
While M&As in the period thus did not give any single firm a dominating position, they helped
bring about industrial consolidation. Beyond the traditional efficiency-through-synergy
arguments, scholars have highlighted a further industry-transforming mechanism of M&As,
which would seem to fit the situation on a growth phase market in general, and the ICT software
and services industry in particular. In situations where more effective firms buy less effective
firms, the overall productivity of the industry will typically increase 163- at least when the
efficiency advantage of the acquiring firms is rooted in actual superiority in production, and not
in market power advantages of any kind 164.
Efficiency perspectives on M&As would suggest that the development of the ICT software and
services industry was affected in two major ways. In the short term, lay-offs may occur, e.g. as a
consequence of attempts to achieve synergies in operations. The consequences for laid-off
employees can however be expected to be limited, as continuous industrial growth created labor
market demand for skilled ICT workers and opportunities for self-employment – at least in the
major cities. In the long term, the efficiency achieved through M&As may have contributed to
the international competitiveness of firms in the Swedish ICT software and services industry.
The mechanisms through which M&As are seen as pushing the development of an industry
towards greater efficiency discussed so far are of a static, on-off nature. In a technologyintensive sector such as ICT software and services, dynamic effects of M&As are also expected
to play out. Such effects, which arise through the impact of a specific M&A on the industrywide conditions for R&D, innovation and entrepreneurship, are theoretically speaking often
greater in magnitude than static effects, but inherently difficult to estimate ex-ante and to
162
Source: authors’ calculations from source material derived from the public registers of the Swedish competition
authority, (http://www.konkurrensverket.se/Diariet/default.asp?nav=2)
163 Jovanovic & Rousseau (2002)
164 Braguinsky et al. (2014)
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measure ex-post. In the remainder of this chapter, we provide a few illustrations of such
mechanisms playing out, focusing on the people most directly affected by M&As.
10.5 The tales of two acquisitions
The “dynamic” effects of M&As arise through e.g. capital transfers within and across borders,
change-of-hands of technological assets and the emergence of new networks. As illustrations of
how the industry-wide effects of such flows can be both far-reaching and non-dramatic at one
and the same time, we next outline two important acquisition events in the Software & Net
Services industry from the period under study and their effects on key individuals.
The acquisition of Coding Technologies 165
In 2007, California-based Dolby laboratories acquired the Swedish firm Coding Technologies
for 1,6 billion crowns. The firm, which had been started 10 years earlier by the musician Lars
Liljeryd, had developed world-leading technology for audio compression with applications for
low-bandwidth transmission such as mobile communication and digital radio. It employed 15
persons in the Stockholm office and a further 50 persons in Nürnberg and Beijing. In 2007, the
firm was in need of additional investment to finance further technical development. There was
quite some interest in acquiring the firm, whose technology was integrated in several global
standards. For Liljeryd, however, the opportunity to have Coding Technologies integrated into
the large American firm which for decades had held a dominating position in noise reduction
and audio encoding was a preferred alternative. The technological assets of the two firms
provided interesting opportunities for synergetic effects, e.g. opening up for technique from
Coding Technologies to be implemented in the BlueRay/DVD market.
The merger has been described as relatively successful. Technological synergies has allowed the
implementation of technologies from the Swedish venture in a vast array of handheld devices.
Many of the developers also choose to stay with the firm. As of today, Dolby maintains an
office in Stockholm (“Dolby Sweden”), currently employing some 17 persons. As for Lars
Liljeryd himself, he remained with Dolby as senior advisor. After the acquisition, he has also
engaged ad co-founder of two firms (Diabetes tools, Biocrine) developing new treatments for
people suffering from diabetes.
The acquisition of Ongame 166
In early 2006, following a dramatic growth in turnover and employment which had earned it the
title “IT-company of the year” the year before, the Stockholm-based venture Ongame was
acquired by the Austrian company Betandwin. Ongame, an on-line poker platform first
launched in 1999, had timed the poker hype of the mid-2000s really well and had in 2005
achieved a margin of 33% on a 137 million SEK turnover. The business, which had started out
as a site for on-line poker, had quickly shifted focus into developing and providing technology
and a joint database of players for 14 independent sites.
165
166
This section draws on an interview and subsequent conversations with Lars Liljeryd in May-August 2015
This sections draws on interviews with Eric Hörnell and Oskar Hörnell in May 2015
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The strong financial results together with strong expectations of future growth in what at the
time was a strongly growing market for on-line betting motivated an acquisition price
amounting to 4.5 billion SEK. An IPO on the London stock exchange was being planned, but
the price and expectations on significant synergies that were attached to the deal convinced the
four owners to sell. Through the acquisition, Betandwin sought to enter the on-line poker
market from a position of offering on-line betting. Synergies in terms of customer-bases were
expected, as the acquirer hoped to attract players from Ongames (primarily European) player
base to its (US-oriented) betting services. Technical synergies in terms of server use and
synergies in development costs were furthermore foreseen. The merged firm set out to become
the world’s largest player in on-line poker.
The post-merger development was accompanied by some of the traditional challenges of
international mergers. In particular, cultural and managerial differences created some frictions
in the integration process and combining the poker products of the respective firms proved more
difficult than initially foreseen. More importantly, however, market conditions for on-line poker
changed. As the poker hype cooled down and new players entered the market, competition
increased. New regulation of online-betting by the US government also put pressure on the
market. Ongame AB was divested by Betandwin (by then known under the name bwin) in 2012.
The development activities in Stockholm have survived this turmoil. In October 2005, Ongame
AB had 230 employees. In 2014, when the Stockholm activities under the name Ongame
services were sold to the NYZ Gaming Group, it employed 152 people.
Five people controlled 96% of the stock in Ongame. They have all gone on to launch new
ventures. Co-founder Oskar Hörnell stayed in the merged organization as a senior advisor but
left in 2008. Today he is involved in Casino room, a firm with 14 employees which offers a
web-based platform for online-games. Hörnell also is co-owner/investor in a Chinese
technology company that develops mobile games for chines mobile phones and tablet and runs
an on-line sport community for fantasy sport. Eric Hörnell and Carl Hörnell have founded the
firm KEP games, which has launched a highly successful crossword-app available in several
languages. The second co-founder Claes Lidell have continued working with the final major
shareholder Bo Johnson to develop a video-on-demand application called Headweb. The app
has won the award for Sweden’s best video application several times. In 2015 the company,
which employed 13 people, was acquired by Film2Home.
Observations
The two histories of the acquisitions and subsequent mergers of Swedish ICT-service firms in
the mid-2000nds offer some interesting observations, which may cast some light on what role
that M&As may have played during this period of industrial development. Consistent with the
received view of mergers, jobs may have been lost in the short term in attempts to realize
synergies in sales, marketing, etc. Technology has been transferred, but in both cases
development activities are still being pursued from the original location of the acquired firm.
Of particular interest is the observation that key-persons such as the founders of the two firms
have left the acquired firms and engaged in the formation of new ventures. As main owners, the
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founders of the above two firms carried away significant fortunes from the acquisitions. The
fact that they have chosen to invest some of that capital in new ventures suggests a mechanism
through which potentially negative effects of acquisitions for a specific region may be offset.
More generally, key-persons who leave an acquired firm contribute to localized knowledge
spillovers 167. How common was this pattern in the growth-phase of the ICT-services industry in
Sweden? To what extent did employees of acquired firms engage in new firm formation, similar
to the founders of Ongame and Coding Technologies? In the following section, we revisit
Swedish register-based data to investigate these questions in some detail.
10.6 Post M&A spin-outs in the Swedish ICT-services sector
In post-M&A processes of integration, securing strategic focus of activities through divesture
and re-orientation of existing activities is often a key priority in parallel to realizing synergies
between related activities. Such strategic decisions are a potential source of new opportunities
for entrepreneurship and other forms of entry. In a market characterized by high growth and low
physical capital intensity of production, such as the one under study here, post-merger consolidation may be particularly likely to stimulate such entry. For example, a market niche abandoned by a merged ICT consultancy firm seeking to streamline its offering is an opportunity for
entry by other actors. An obvious possibility is that existing consultants leave to set up a new
firm drawing on their existing customer contacts. Technological re-orientation in a software
firm following its acquisition may cause the firm’s developers to consider exploiting ideas and
projects threating to be abandoned by the new management in a new venture 168.
Our data supports the existence of such a pattern. The entrepreneurial activities of the employees of ICT-service firms involved in M&A activities did indeed increase during the postacquisition periods. For this study, we limited the sample to firms with at least 50 employees. 169
In this sample, 289-360 new firms are each year making their entry by spinning out from one of
the 2 889 concerned ICT software and services films. It appears that M&As increase the
frequency of spin-out by 33% two years after the event. Putting this differently, it suggests that
on average, with a fusion or an acquisition, there are one to two extra firms launched compared
to the absence of any M&A. In other words, there are supplementary opportunities that are
perceived by employees of acquired, acquiring and merging firms and that are additional to the
opening available on the market. In a growing market with limited entry barriers such as the
ICT software and services industry, M&As can be considered as something of a force of
creative destruction.
As new firms try to carve out a niche for themselves, e.g. by introducing technological
innovation, addressing new customer segments, sometimes even challenging the existing ways
to do business in the industry, they potentially change industries. Supporting such notions,
entrepreneurship has been empirically found to drive industrial productivity 170. We note that
167
Rosenthal & Strange (2001)
Klepper and Thompson (2010)
169 This limitation has technical motivations: with a minimum of 50 employees, we can exclude concerns related to
the employees’ involvement in the M&A decision, we reduce the error margin in the definition of an M&A, and we
emphasize the impact of M&As on the mobility of the employees.
170 Andersson et al. (2012)
168
153
M&A contributed to strengthen such patterns in the growth phase of the Swedish ICT software
and services sector.
10.7 Post M&A executive turnover
We next turn to study the fate of managers of ICT software and services firm acquired during
the period. In the two cases of Coding Technologies and Ongame, founder/managers were
found to have left their operational positions soon after the respective acquisition. 171 Should we
think about this as a general pattern, and if so – what have this implied for the industry?
For acquirers of ICT consultancy firms, retaining staff and reducing business disturbances are
key to realizing the potential value of the deal. In acquisitions of software firms, retaining
developers and key persons is typically attractive, e.g. to secure further development and
technical integration with the acquirer’s existing software, to manage relationship to existing
communities of users and customers, etc. The retention of managers after an acquisition helps
reducing post-acquisition turbulence, and is therefore often desirable – at least in the short run.
Does that mean that M&As in the Swedish ICT software and service sector inhibited mobility of
key persons?
Register data allows us to investigate the patterns of managerial exodus, albeit only from
2004. 172 One year after an M&A, over a third of the managers have left the merged firms.
Adding a further two years, only two out of five managers remained with their previous
(merged) employer.
M&A thus seem clearly associated with increased managerial turnover. This effect has
implications for industrial development. Mobility of labor causes diffusion of knowledge and
ideas, stimulating learning 173. Inter-firm job switching is also a mean to ensure efficient labor
market matching, which theoretical models suggest to have significant influence on industrial
productivity and development (c.f. Farber, 1994). There are thus reasons to describe M&As as
having contributed to cross-fertilization between firms in a phase of industrial growth, and
thereby to the success of the industry.
10.8 M&As as a vehicle for industrial transformation
During the first decade of the 21st century, the Swedish ICT software and services sector
developed from a pioneering state of wide-eyed enthusiasm via abrupt adjustments of
expectations into a major business sector and an important part of the Swedish economy.
Industrial consolidation through mergers and acquisitions played several important roles in this
process. As a mean of expansion, M&As allowed for greater scale economies. As a channel for
less effective firms to be absorbed by more efficient competitors without total loss of
operational assets, M&As constituted a force of creative destruction parallel to the mechanism
of exit through bankruptcy. Furthermore, as we have illustrated through new empirical
171
As described in section 5, Coding Technologies founder Lars Liljeryd maintained an advisory role and
relationship with the firm
172 Occupational codes allowing us to identify managers are not available before 2004.
173 See Almeida & Kogut (1999) and Agrawal et al. (2006)
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investigations in this chapter, M&As provided new impulses and opportunities for entrepreneurship and stimulated between-firm job mobility of key persons in the sector. So what was lost?
While evaluating the impact of potentially “positive” industry-wide effects is notoriously
difficult, evaluating negative effects may be even more challenging. The main concern of public
authorities, the threat of market concentration leading to reduced competition and industrial
stagnation, does not seem to have been a major concern in this phase of development. For each
acquired firm, opportunities were probably foregone. Did M&As destroy struggling firms who
would have developed into major players, had they not been acquired and integrated into other
business activities? Did M&As transfer technological assets and key competences which may
have allowed Swedish-based firms to develop into a new Google or Microsoft abroad?
Regarding such contra-factual questions, we can only speculate. It should be noted, however,
that even if access to risk-willing and “competent” capital for investment in scalable ICT assets
had been corresponding that of, say, the U.S. west coast, it is not likely that successful firms
would have “stayed Swedish”. The case of Coding Technologies provides a good example: at
the time of acquisitions by American industry leader Dolby, the Stockholm office accounted for
less than a fourth of total employment and the main alternative to an acquisition seems to have
been an IPO in London. Most likely, cross-border acquisitions have created outflows of future
profits to firms based in foreign countries. At the same time, such M&As have also created
inflows of capital which at least partly has been re-invested in an industry by entrepreneurs/
owners who – like the Hörnell family of Ongame – have gone on engage with creating and
funding new firms in the ICT software and service sector. Last but not least, it should also be
noted that the possibility of exit through M&As provide powerful motivation for many
entrepreneurs.
We conclude that the intensive M&A-activity of the period contributed to renewal and growth
of the ICT software and services industry at large, but did not lead to the creation of new
Swedish-based multinationals in the sector. With technology, demand and business models
continuing to develop at a strong pace, it would seem more strategically important for the future
development of the local industry as a whole that the dynamics of entry and exit (e.g. through
acquisitions) stay vibrant than that Sweden becomes the headquarter of a new major
corporation.
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11 Swedish entrepreneurial firms and
ICT hotspots
Annika Rickne
This chapter takes the perspective of startup companies in the Swedish ICT sector and
looks at what positive sides or drawbacks there are being located in Sweden as compared
to one of the major ICT hubs in the world: California.
11.1 Introduction
California has been unprecedented successful in a set of ICT related development efforts:
semiconductors, personal computing, internet related businesses. There is plenty of literature on
what characteristics and resources that single out Silicon Valley as an outstanding region for
ICT innovation. Our aim is not to contribute to these analyses of mechanisms and factors, but
instead to highlight how Swedish entrepreneurs may perceive their development journey and
their locational choices.
Much explanatory power to the secret of Silicon Valley and California lies in the history: the
role of Stanford professors, procurement activities, the technological breakthroughs and
subsequent growth of the early startups. Also, a rich resource base has been built up with a
strong human competence base and high mobility in to the region, intellectual capital, formation
of venture capital firms and support organizations. Perhaps most important, a critical mass of
companies in many subsectors has provided ample of opportunity for interacting as development partners, or for customer-supplier relations. Indeed, there are several, partly overlapping
and partly competing, explanations to why this particular location has proved to manage
prosperity over time, ranging from discussions of trust and strong ties, to a performance based
culture, early mover advantages and path dependencies or a favorable set up of actors and
institutions.
Sweden has an international reputation as a highly ICT productive environment. And especially,
Stockholm is seen as a form of hotspot for ICT. In general terms, Stockholm has been ranked as
number seven of the world’s major capitals and scores particularly high on indicators such as
technology readiness, intellectual capital and innovation, sustainability, quality of life, and
safety (PwC). In fact, as regards technology readiness - measured by internet access in schools,
broadband quality, digital economy and software development - Stockholm ranks third after
London and Seoul. The Networked Society City Index 2013 puts Stockholm in top rank,
followed by London, Singapore and Paris (Ericsson, 2013). Also, in more popular assessments
Sweden is often mentioned: for example, Stockholm was by the US seed-stage fund SparkLabs
Global Ventures ranked the second best city for startup ecosystems in the world as regards
funding and exits, engineering talent, active mentoring, technical infrastructure, startup culture,
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and legal and policy infrastructure. The city grows fast in terms of population, and is expected
to be the European city with the fifth largest population increase until 2030.
As we saw in chapter 7, there are significant ICT activities throughout all of Sweden but there is
indeed a large concentration to the Stockholm region, with nearly 50% of the Swedish
employees, and twice as many ICT business jobs per capita as the country at large. The
exceptions are the manufacturing part of ICT where less than a fourth of the jobs are in the
capital, and technical ICT consultants (35%).
Table 11.1: The investigated firms
COMPANY
ESTABLISHED
PROFILE
NR OF EMPL
YUBICO
2007
Hardware and service
50
TRUECALLER
2009
Service
70
NEO TECHNOLOGY
2007
Software and service
100
NARRATIVE
2012
Hardware and service
40
VINT
2013
Mobile app and Service
6
With this as a basis, we in this chapter look at the idiosyncrasies of five specific startup firms,
and how they have – in this particular time period – experienced the locational issues. They are
all rooted in the Swedish entrepreneurial soil, even though in rather disparate manners. What
unites them is their decision to move some or all of their operations to another of the global IT
hotspots: California. The sample for this study was, thus, five companies founded by Swedish
entrepreneurs and now active in the Silicon Valley area. They are what we may call ‘growth
companies’, that is, their aim is not to stay as small, livelihood companies, but to grow to
international players. They are active in hardware as well as software and service development,
and were founded between 2007 and 201x (see Table 11.1). Some of them have already
experienced a significant expansion period, while others are just starting up. The chapter dwells
on one of these firms in particular – Yubico – to illustrate some issues that several of the firms
have experienced. We then conclude with a general discussion pertaining to all studied firms.
11.2 The entrepreneurial journey of Yubico
The underlying business idea for Yubico is that security solutions are in dire need in relation to
an Internet designed for sharing. This calls for a simple to use, low cost, device for securing
access, independent of device or platform. Today Yubico provides their device to individuals
and organizations, and have had success in having their solution implemented within some of
the leading Internet companies globally.
The company was established in 2007 by Stina Ehrensvärd as a spinout from Cypak, a company
formed by Stina and Jacob Ehrensvärd in 2000, designing electronic modules for compliance
monitoring in healthcare. In the development work for Cypak they saw needs and possibilities
for using the communication protocol NFC (near field communication) to enable device users to
have a secure connection between each of their devices and the internet. This new business idea
did not lie within the realms of Cypak’s profile, and a new company was thus spun out with a
minority Cypak ownership. With them they brought all the experiences and mistakes from the
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first company in how to run a startup, recruit only the best, manage a team, develop fast and
with highest standards, not to get caught in too large organizational and economic commitments
before the paying customers have signed up on the prospect, and how to build a market.
Early on two Swedish angel investors helped to get the first development under way, and with
an office in the incubator Sting and an early loan from the governmental support organization
Almi, and support from VINNOVA the process was set in motion. After initial development
work Yubico received extensive attention on a rather difficult market. This could be attributed
to something of a fluke, when Ehrensvärd caught the attention of a thrifty journalist at an
international security conference and the then rather prototype like gadget got a prime
marketing push. This lead to massive attention and Yubico had to move fast and started sales to
both end users and corporate customers. The fast market penetration was however not a fluke
but a result of presenting a solid product leaning on dedicated development work. An open
source approach and unmet customer needs meant that sales to individual users started, and this
lead to the product being brought to the attention of some major ICT companies in the USA.
Discussions of customized development were held with such customer firms, and the prospects
loomed promising.
With such main customers in California, Ehrenswärd realized that communication and market
penetration would be much improved with geographical proximity. So, they moved the
headquarters to Silicon Valley. This has proved crucial to access and cultivate deep relations
with world leading companies such as Google, Facebook, and Salesforce. Such customers
explicitly said that Yubico impressed them with their gear, and that they were able to deliver
fast, building a working prototype within weeks. Not least important, Yubico was local, and
they wanted local. As a contrast to other security providers located in Europe Yubico showed
that they were in for a serious and long term relation by localizing next to the customers and
tending to their needs. Ehrenswärd’s assessment is that US companies is more prone to walking
into a development collaboration with a small company, being accustomed to a milieu of
flourishing startups.
The Yubico team aspires to change the standards for Internet security, and has set up a think
tank - the FIDO Alliance – where open standards specifications are discussed. This is indeed not
an easy task where many have a stake in the process and outcome and parallel protocols have
been on the table for some time. The level of attention has been high given recent US and global
desires to increase Internet security, assure personal integrity, and make big data sharing
possible. In this, leaning on the prominent historical role of Ericsson in standards, Swedish
firms have as good platform and brand goodwill. Discussions with both Swedish and US
governmental officials have opened up possibilities for further development projects, and also
pave the way for initial talks with other countries. The solutions provided by Yubico can today
be used by individual users and corporations, but also has a larger potential implication for how
to handle Internet security in specific countries or at an international level.
The decision to move much of the operations to California was neither easy nor unanimous at
the time given the expected high costs, unsuccessful experiences within the board from earlier
trials in connecting to this market and the given the early stage of the product. Being neighbor
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with leading firms as Google does not automatically make them your friends and allies, but in
the case of Yubico the move was a fruitful move.
The challenge is to balance the activities in the two countries and get the best out of both
environments. Ehrenswärd’s view is that Sweden has a great milieu for software and hardware
development, in particular as related to mobile apps and games but also many other interesting
sub-segments. Spotify, King, Klarna, Skype are but some of the successful companies and she
hears very positive Californian comments about Sweden as an environment to invest in, and to
recruit from. For Yubico, the gist of the development team is still in Sweden, but is lead from
the USA by the founding inventor with all the time management issues such collaboration over
time zones entails. Economics operations are based in Sweden, and this reflects that location is
mostly a matter of there the crucial human competence are situated. Manufacturing is located in
Sweden as well as in the USA.
Recruitment is often tricky when one is a young and unknown firm with little but a vision and
hard work to offer. Indeed, recruitment is a key matter and what the USA has is a competent and
highly mobile labor stock, whereas the mobility and willingness to take chances with a startup
are lower in Sweden. When it comes to skills of engineers Sweden fares at least as well as the
US, but the labor cost is extremely high in California. In this context, thus, Swedish developers
are well renowned and not as expensive as in Silicon Valley, but there is a scarcity of them.
Even given the many foreign students receiving their education in Sweden and the push for a
gender equal education system, there is a general volume deficiency and a particular lack of
female engineers. A flat organization and a team spirit and culture of consensus is something
Ehrenswärd perceives as positive traits of the Swedish milieu, especially when combined with
diligent and creative engineering work.
Some well-renowned investors joined in 2014: one of Google’s initial investors Ram Shriram,
and Marc Benioff of the cloud computing company Salesforce. The company is today owned by
the management team and a set of business angels. The competence network obtained in
California spans from investors to advisors and partners and customers. Exactly this, to be able
to actively and in person build networks and relations to world leading individuals, firms,
investors, thought leaders, researchers may be one of the core advantages of the Californian
location. This enables a young firm to tap into competence flows otherwise unattainable. In the
same vein, access to early and demanding B2B customers is crucial, as is an access point for
thoroughly understanding of the large US consumer market.
11.3 Discussion
In this chapter we took the perspective of startup companies in the Swedish ICT sector and
looked at what positive sides or drawbacks there are being located in Sweden as compared to
one of the major ICT hubs in the world: California.
Sweden has an international reputation as a highly ICT productive environment, and especially,
Stockholm is seen as a major hotspot for ICT. Naturally this goodwill builds on a long history
of high end research, innovation and business activities, as well as prominent Swedish roles in
159
standard setting, as has been discussed at length elsewhere in this report. History prevails and
Sweden is surely well positioned to entice companies to locate in the country and perhaps
especially in Stockholm. Moreover, attracting investors as well as individuals with specialized
ICT competence does not seems farfetched.
The interviewed firms are all in agreement that for software and hardware development, Sweden
- and predominantly Stockholm - is one of the most favorable locations to be situated at
globally. The labor force of engineers is highly educated and experienced, work efficiently and
performs at high standards. In addition, a flat organizational set up and consensus models make
for efficient hardware and software development, in a sector where speed is everything. As the
ICT sector and ICT development in general is flourishing in Sweden, there is however a
shortage of programmers, system developers, etc. Moreover, contracts with often three months’
time of notice means that it is difficult to recruit swiftly. As an example to solutions, this lack of
available development personnel has lead one of the responding firms to recruit from elsewhere,
and their staff in Sweden now holds 70% non-Swedish employees.
What Silicon Valley can additionally offer in terms of competence is highly experienced top
managers, growth experts and financial officers. Some respondents mean that there are in fact
job descriptions in the US that does not exist in Sweden. Based on handling of large data sets –
on demographics, customer preferences, medical databases, etc. - growth management aims to
understand how a firm can better reach growth goals. Such expertise is now built in Silicon
Valley. Similarly, as based on extensive experience some of the most proficient and successful
chief executive officers, financial officers and operations managers are located in California.
This does not mean that their competence is available to any new startup, but some of the
interviewed firms had indeed be able to secure high-end competency.
It is well documented that angel investors and venture capital are highly profuse in California.
The respondents witness to how competent investors have guided them not only strategically
but also on detailed operational matters that proved critical. With profound experience from
failures as well as triumphs angels, fund managers and executives can more readily lead a new
venture forward. It seems thus to be a matter of experience, and being a small country Swedish
financiers and managers may have a high competence but many do not have as broad
experiences in growing ICT companies to global players.
Likewise, there is in California a plenitude of role models to lean on: companies who have
already been down the same roads and can give guidance. And this happens continuously. The
interviewees reveal that they have often benefitted from learning details of operations from
related companies sharing their findings. Most importantly, USA is where there is a large
market, in terms of end users as well as businesses. The manager at Narrative stress that to
know how to develop a camera for US customers one needs to live and breathe like they do, and
thereby understand their needs and how they respond to marketing communication.
In essence, what our cases show is that it is indeed crucial and very beneficial to be located in a
ICT focused region: a cluster. This gives access to otherwise unattainable resources: ideas,
discussions, human capital, financing, partnerships, intellectual property, customers, market
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knowledge, distribution channels, etc. Both California and Sweden can be considered to be such
regions conducive to IT innovation and growth. In particular can Silicon Valley versus the
Stockholm region be seen as hotspots. Most of the companies wish to remain Swedish, and have
a balanced approach to how to get the best out of both milieus. This given, it cannot be denied
that in several dimensions, Silicon Valley is the more advanced of the two clusters. Having a
foot in each location ensures quick and high quality resource mobilization, tapping into state of
the art learning, and having the ear to the market.
It has been repeated time and again that one should not make a business plan on Google buying
the firm. That is, a move to California is less likely to be fruitful if the plan is solely to be
acquired. Instead, clear goals and targets in terms of favorite customers and partners should be
outlined. Importantly, not all IT companies would benefit from having a presence in California.
For example, Silicon Valley is a hotspot for software. While there are decidedly a lot of
companies developing hardware, such startups are currently a somewhat harder sell to investors.
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12 ICT consultancy – Building a
foundation for ICT in other sectors
Magnus Gens and Eric Giertz
Sweden has a very large ICT consultancy segment. The lion share of both the companies
and the employees offer services related to commercial and management software
solutions. This chapter however focuses on ICT consultancy companies developing
embedded systems in their customers´ products or manufacturing systems. It was born
when the tele and defense industries introduced a disruptive technology into their
products.
12.1 Introduction
ICT consultancy companies are in terms of employment the largest and the fastest growing
segment in the Swedish ICT sector. In the figures mentioned earlier in this report (chapter 7.5)
only companies working exclusively with ICT as their main business focus were included. This
means that the number of consultants dedicated to ICT related work was deliberately greatly
underestimated in that study. There are a substantial number of major consultancy companies
with a diversified business focus. Some management consultancy firms, infrastructure
consultancy firms, construction consultancy firms and mechanical engineering firms have
subsidiaries or separate business units dedicated to work in the ICT business segment.
In a recent, and yet not published, quantitative study, made for the Swedish Governmental
Agency for Innovation Systems, all consultancy companies in Sweden were identified and
classified. In this study separate business units and branch offices were identified and classified
differently than the head office on group level. The former ICT study (chapter 7.5) identified
1,145 ICT Consultancy firms (with more than 5 employees) with a total of 37,456 employees
(2011). The latter study identified 2,083 ICT Consultancy units (with more than 5 employees)
with a total of 72,645 employees (2012). In addition there were about 8,806 full time employees
in smaller (with less than 5 employees) ICT consultancy companies (2012). Thus there are in
total more than 80,000 full time employees working in the Swedish ICT consultancy sector.
In this chapter we are not studying the entire ICT consultancy sector. We are completely
focusing on the R&D related ICT consultancy segment, which has played a very important role
in the development of software products and automated production systems in the Swedish
industry. As a consequence, most ICT consultancy companies are excluded. All companies that
primarily offer services related to commercial and management software solutions are not
included. The latter ICT consultancy segment has, as mentioned before (chapter 7), undergone
heavy consolidation and globalization. This is however not true in the R&D related ICT
consultancy segment.
162
We base our analysis on an overall description of the development of the Swedish R&D related
ICT consultancy sector based on both substantial engagement in the field operatively and
through additional research. As a complement, the study also rests on qualitative cases from five
companies, which all have been successful and substantial players on the Swedish market
during different periods since the 1970s. Our selection includes both existing successful
companies and previously important companies that do not exist today. The case companies
represent, or have represented, R&D related consultancy companies that have been active
mainly on the Swedish (or Nordic) market. To learn more about how the R&D related ICT
consultancy industry was born and how it initially developed we conducted interviews with key
individuals from the startup phases.
12.2 The R&D related ICT consultancy segment in Sweden
As mentioned before there is a segment of ICT consultancy companies focused on developing
embedded systems and other IT solutions intended for their customers´ products or production
systems. These consultancy companies work mainly with incremental product development on
behalf of their clients. ICT consultancy companies with this specialization act as an external
research and development department for their clients.
In the quantitative part of this study we used a very narrow definition of a R&D related ICT
consultancy firm. Only companies or business units working with the development of embedded
systems and Internet of things were included. At the same time the scope was broadened in
another way. In this study a lot of separate business units in consultancy groups with main focus
on construction, mechanical engineering or design, such as ÅF, Rejlers, Semcon, Etteplan,
Sweco, Pöyry, Outotec, I3Tex and Knightec, were included. With this approach 295 R&D
related ICT consultancy companies or business units (with more than 5 employees) were
identified. Together these companies and business units have 14,491 full time employees in
Sweden. In addition there are 2,393 full time employees in this segment working in companies
with less than 5 employees. In contrast to the commercial systems segment of the ICT
consultancy sector, this segment is dominated by domestic or Nordic companies. Some of the
companies have grown organically and some by smaller acquisitions. Furthermore the
companies have, with very few exceptions stayed Swedish.
The externalization of ICT related research and development has made it possible for R&D
related ICT consultancy companies to work at the very frontier of knowledge in a specific area,
to develop attractive professional environments for skilled engineers. Simultaneously
competence in a consultancy firm by definition becomes available for other companies. An
individual consultant performing work for one client can of course with substantial advantage
perform similar work also for other clients. In addition consulting companies with this
specialization try to develop efficient methods, processes and databases, which helps
consultants to benefit from their colleagues' previous assignments and experiences. In other
words consultancy companies in this segment try to build structural capital to systematically
improve quality and efficiency rate by exploiting the experiences from previous assignments.
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The segment is dominated by a number of domestic or Nordic companies with around 1,000
employees. These larger consultancy companies have multiple workplaces and most commonly
each location has its own strategic focus on a specific customer segment and certain technology
and application area. These specialized workplaces are typically located near major customers.
In many cases an individual consultant work extensively with colleges employed by the client
and on the customers’ premises for very long periods.
One larger company is HiQ, with approximately 1,400 employees in Sweden, Finland and
Russia. The company has extensive expertise in communications, software development and
business-critical IT. The foundation of HiQ is the specialist expertise from assignments in the
aerospace, automotive and telecom industries during the 1990s. Many customers of HiQ are still
in these technology-intensive industries, and advanced technological skills are still the
foundation of HiQ's success, but the market and the customer base has broadened when client
companies have outsourced more and more of qualified R&D activities in the ICT field.
Another large company with this business focus is Combitech with about 1,200 employees in
Sweden. Combitech is seeking its roots to the former Saab-Scania Group's joint technology
development, but in the 2000s Combitech also grew through mergers, including TietoEnator
Communications, TietoEnator Telub, Celsius Aerotech, Caran Saab Engineering and Sörman
Information AB. The company is now fully owned by Saab AB, but has many customers
outside the group. Important customer segments include defense, aerospace and telecom
industries.
A third representative of the larger companies in this specific group of consultancy companies is
Prevas, with roughly 600 employees in Sweden. Prevas specializes in embedded systems and
industrial ICT. It was founded 1985 in Västerås and the founder had close links to ABB's
automation expertise and good contacts with Volvo's manufacturing of components in Köping
and Skövde. Expertise on automation of manufacturing processes was a key ingredient in the
company's offerings right from the starting point. In the 1990s, the company established new
offices with application expertise that suited the local customer structure. As an example Prevas
established an office in Malmö, specializing in the food & beverage and the pharmaceutical
industries. In the 2000s, the company also grew through a number of smaller acquisitions.
Cybercom Group AB is a fourth major company with approximately 830 employees in Sweden.
Cybercom too is a Swedish company, with the Nordic region as its home market. The company
has a clear focus on technical systems and relies primarily on customers in the telecom and
financial sectors. The company was established in 1995 and has grown extensively through
acquisitions.
The R&D related segment of the ICT consultancy sector is partly dominated by a handful
Swedish-owned companies originating from the development of technology-intensive systems
for Swedish engineering companies. Another group of large competitors, with main focus on
other consultancy business, have also, partly through acquisitions, expanded into this segment.
ÅF:s Technology division has about 700 consultants working in this area. Many of Rejlers
1,000 engineering consultants also have specific competence and work in this segment. Another
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large player in this segment is Semcon. A rather large part of Semcons 3,000 consultants have
specific competence about embedded systems.
Finnish Etteplan has a subsidiary in Sweden, with approximately 450 employees, which
partially deliver this type of services to the Swedish industry. Sweco has divisions like
Elektronik and Industry that incorporates around 250 employees. Outotec is a mining-oriented
service business with 250 employees delivering services in this field. I3Tex with 250 employees
is another company that is specialized in this specific ICT services area. Knightec with 300
employees is a product development consultancy company that to some extent focuses on
embedded systems services.
All major competitors in this segment still have their main operations in Sweden even if some
of the larger companies can be considered Nordic companies. So far very few foreign
acquisitions, in contrast to the ICT consultancy segment related to commercial systems, can be
observed. An exception, however, is the French Altran Group with around 17,000 employees. In
2001 Altran broke into the Swedish market through the acquisition of Consignit AB. Altran has
close to 300 employees at three locations in Sweden.
Alongside with the larger consultancy companies there are a very large number of small
consulting firms with this business focus. It is also most likely that there will be new specialized
companies focusing on new application areas and new industries. There will be further increase
of complexity in computerized industrial systems with the development of embedded systems
and machine-to-machine applications (Internet of Things).
We believe that the R&D related ICT consultancy industry in Sweden has played an increasingly important – and so far rather neglected – role in an important technical innovation system
in Sweden. The R&D related ICT consultancy industry has been very instrumental when
developing improved functionality in engineering products and in production processes in
Swedish industry.
Table 12.1: The 10 largest R&D related ICT consultancy companies
POSITION
COMPANY
NUMBER OF
EMPLOYEES
2012
PRIMARY
OWNERSHIP
1
Semcon AB
2,891
Sweden
Göteborg
2
HiQ AB
1,326
Sweden
Stockholm
3
Combitech AB
1,164
Sweden
Linköping
4
Xdin AB (now Alten Sverige AB)
861
France
Göteborg
5
Cybercom AB
832
Sweden
Stockholm
6
ÅF-Technology AB
695
Sweden
Stockholm
7
Prevas AB
590
Sweden
Västerås
8
Altran Sverige AB (incl. Altran
Technologies Sweden AB)
364
France
Göteborg
9
Knightec AB
298
Sweden
Uppsala
10
Syntronic AB
279
Sweden
Gävle
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HEAD OFFICE
The consultancy firms can be regarded as a commercial part of an innovative system that really
is on the forefront in developing embedded systems for product as well as process
development. 174 They work in very close cooperation with their customers, both product
developers and production engineers, and they have great possibilities to use experience from
one project in one company also in other projects in other companies and other industries. That
individual companies could benefit from this is also in line with theories about open
innovation, 175 which assumes that firms should use external expertise as well as internal in their
R&D.
12.3 Characteristics of the R&D related ICT consultancy
industry
When microprocessors and digital electronics made an entrance into the Swedish defense and
telecom industries, the R&D related ICT consultancy industry was born. The new ICT
consultancy industry was very different from the ICT consultancy business already in place.
In the early 1970s microprocessors made an entrance in former purely mechanical products.
Tasks, which earlier were carried out by analogue components, could then be executed in a
digital domain. The new 8-bit microcontrollers together with assembly code offered huge
possibilities to create new and improved functionality in many different products. But there was
also a need for new competence to take advantage of the new possibilities. A new profession –
“the computer software developing electrical engineer” – was born.
Most Swedish engineering corporations have consulted external expertise since the very first
steps to increase functionality by using microprocessors in their products. Most of the R&D
related ICT consultancy firms started out with just a few employees. In most cases expansion
started almost instantly, due to high demand and access to qualified young engineers from
Swedish universities. These new consultancy firms often took on roles as complementing
external R&D departments for their customers.
In the very beginning 4-bit and 8-bit processors performed simple tasks. Soon enough engineers
started to add functionality and both source code and system behavior rapidly became more
complex. Complexity made it hard to plan the system resources to make the performance
predictable over time. Technical solutions with multi-threaded software (sometimes running on
several processor kernels) tended to require experienced engineers. Other early challenges were
memory management, portability, communication interfaces, display support, sound etc. Such
functions are nowadays commonly provided by standard Operating Systems even for very
specific hardware platforms. Consultants, with extensive experience from this type of
assignments, often perform these specific adaptations.
174
175
Laestadius and Rickne (2012)
Chesbrough (2003)
166
Most engineering companies, that incorporated embedded computer systems in their products,
soon came to a conclusion to further improve some principal areas. After the initial projects
many customers wanted to accomplish three things:
•
•
•
Structured ways for multiple developers to work on the same code base
Ways to reuse and configure software for multiple products from their product line
Improve testing activities to find problems early in the development projects
These demands caused concepts like object-oriented architectures and model based design
concepts to emerge. Crucial resources and experiences were often needed when it came to
introducing these new and modern concepts in product development. Sometimes it turned out
that consultancy companies, which earlier had helped other customers with similar tasks, had
the necessary expertise.
Today R&D related ICT consultancy firms sometimes are empowering and enhancing largescale R&D departments with special expertise or just plain “doing”. In other cases consultants
are forming versatile software R&D functionalities for customers, who completely lack this
ability. Assignments can be conducted on customers’ or consultancy firms’ premises, or in a
mix.
Understanding R&D related ICT consultancy companies
To develop a deeper understanding of how the R&D related ICT consultancy sector emerged
and developed we have examined a number of successful consultancy companies that played
important roles during different periods of the new industry´s life cycle. We have chosen two
companies that were important suppliers of consultancy services to Ericsson at an early stage.
We have also chosen three of the presently large R&D related ICT consultancy firms. The
analysis is mainly based on interviews with founders of the five R&D related ICT consultancy
firms, public information on home pages as well as articles and reports.
Enea was founded in 1968 by four students from the Royal Institute of Technology. It was one
of the first R&D related ICT consultancy firms in Sweden. The first assignment was to design a
solution for storing data in an air traffic control system. During the 1970s the customer base
grew and Stansaab, ASEA, LM Ericsson and Facit were important customers. During the 1980s
ASEA became the largest customer. Enea also worked on a new dispatch system for the
Swedish police. Enea advanced to other customers and started new offices in Gothenburg,
Linköping and Malmö. Another crucial customer for Enea, when developing embedded
systems, was LM Ericsson in Kista. In the late 1990s Enea had about 1,000 employees and
several hundred consultants worked on site on Ericsson´s premises.
SoftLab was founded in the early 1980s by two researchers, Jerker Wilander and Kenth Ericson,
as a spin off from the department of Computer Science Engineering at Linköping University.
SoftLab grew and continuously recruited new employees from the program in Computer
Science Engineering. To extend the recruitment base SoftLab started new offices in Uppsala and
Stockholm. In the mid-1990s SoftLab had about 90 MSc in engineering employed. Ericsson
remained the largest and most important customer but SoftLab also contributed in product
167
development for other companies in different industries, e.g. industrial robotics, machinery and
auto carrier systems. The company was sold to Rational Inc. in 1997.
Prevas was founded by Göran Lundin in 1985 as a spin off from the Swedish electrical
company ASEA (today ABB). Prevas was founded in Västerås, a city about 100 kilometers
west of Stockholm. Göran Lundin and other young employees had experience from product
development in ASEA and from assignments primarily at Volvo in Köping, a city about 100
kilometers west of Västerås. ASEA, Volvo and a machine tool manufacturer, SMT, were
important customers at an early stage. Prevas grew rapidly and, based on assignments for the
telecom industry, launched an office in Stockholm in 1986. In 1996 Prevas launched new
offices in Linköping and Uppsala and in 1997 in Malmö and Skövde. Prevas’s customers are
found in industries like telecom, machinery, automotive, defense, life science and electricity. At
present Prevas have 20 offices in Sweden and a few abroad.
Combitech Software was founded in 1992 when Saab Instruments had successfully delivered
integrated control software to the Swedish shipyard Kockums. It was a state-of-the-art software
first installed in submarines bound for Australia. After the delivery Saab had an obligation to be
of service – when needed – in Australia for some years. Based on this group of software
engineers (six persons) Saab-Scania Combitech started a joint venture together with Enea
named Combitech Software. The customers included companies in different industries; life
science, defense, telecom, machinery and automotive. During the first three years Combitech
Software set up new offices in Gothenburg, Jönköping, Linköping and Stockholm. Today
Combitech has around 1,200 employees. Combitech has offices on 20 locations in Sweden and
2 locations in Norway.
HiQ was founded in 1995 as a spin off from a more general Swedish IT consultancy firm,
Enator, in 1995. The three founders had common experience from prior projects in the field of
flight simulators. HiQ opened offices in Stockholm and in the city of Arboga, about 170
kilometers west of Stockholm, to stay close to their main customer. Initially HiQ only focused
on defense projects but soon added telecom projects in Stockholm. In 1999 HiQ acquired a
business in Gothenburg and launched services to the automotive industry. In 2002 HiQ acquired
a consultancy company in Finland, which added the first office outside Sweden. At present
HiQ’s customers are found in industries like telecom, media, retail, public sector, machinery,
automotive, defense and finance. Today HiQ has 1,400 employees. HiQ has eight offices in
Sweden and three abroad.
12.4 Common denominators in R&D related ICT consultancy
firms
R&D related ICT consultancy firms in Sweden are, with few exceptions, domestically owned
and operated companies. 176 It makes this industry different from consultancy siblings in the
purebred ICT consultancy sector. This latter industry is much more consolidated. Large
international corporations nowadays own former Swedish ICT consultancy firms; while the
176
Giertz et al (2013)
168
R&D related ICT consultancy firms so far have remained very “Swedish”. Most of the larger
companies also have a lot in common.
Starting point
Most of the larger companies are sprung from either the telecom or defense industry. There is
one exception, Prevas, which was a spin off from industrial robotics. Defense and telecom (and
industrial robot technology) were early users of the new microprocessor technology in their
product lines. Most of the consultancy firms were founded by a small group of skilled
engineers, who executed the first assignments themselves. They were well known authorities to
their first costumer, who put a lot of trust in them. Thus the business often started on a local
market with good personal connections to important R&D managers in large engineering
companies. Most of the founders were well-educated engineers from MSc programs like
Electrical Engineering. It seems as if Swedish universities taught their students valuable
knowledge in the field of digital electronics in the 1970s.
Expansion
The larger R&D related ICT consultancy firms expanded by organic growth during the early
years. Basically they all recruited intensively at Swedish universities to find the engineers with
fresh competence in this new branch of engineering. The new professionals were to a high
extent recruited among young students who had graduated with an MSc in Engineering.
Many Swedish engineering programs teach their students theory for automatic control of
systems. This specific skill defines a significant difference between software developing
engineers and a “general software developer”. This foundation of theory helps the software
developer to design power control systems, regulators for radio hardware, motor control
systems, injection systems for engines, torque control on assembly tools, wing control systems
for aircrafts, navigational software, control of construction equipment, automatic transmissions,
material processing tools, automatic milking systems etc. Furthermore computerized systems
are frequently used to create algorithms for encryption, compression of data, modulation for
radio transmission, speech emulation, signal processing etc.
The senior engineers provided skill and guidance while the less experienced “rookies” provided
speed and new knowledge from academia. After the first few years most consultancy firms
founded new offices, in other Swedish cities. The locations of the new offices were close either
to the customers´ large R&D departments or to technical universities. Very few offices are
found north of Stockholm or outside the Nordic countries. Typically these new offices started
up based on a local entrepreneur with experience (and potential business contacts) from product
development on a local market. The studied companies have applied a split concept where some
crucial values and guidelines are governed from the central office, while other principal matters
are left to be defined by local management, on the local market.
The larger consultancy firms have during recent years also started to use mergers and
acquisitions to further expand the business in three ways:
•
•
Reach a new local market
Gain access to a new type of industry (specific domain expertise)
169
•
Expand the offer to an existing customer base
It seems as if very few firms have purchased smaller consultancy companies just to expand
faster, achieve savings or benefit from large-scale.
Production engineering – a common ground
Many assignments are in product development, but much of the product development is
focusing on the development of more effective production equipment, such as assembly
systems, automatic milking systems, tooling systems, industrial robotics and so on. This means
that many product development assignments also call for competence in production
engineering.
Many of the R&D related ICT consultancy firms also work very close to highly automated
factories and some of them are frequently engaged in the development of more effective
manufacturing systems in Swedish factories – and Sweden still has a very high concentration of
flexible manufacturing systems.
In Sweden big headlines are seen in media when large Swedish corporations, like Electrolux,
Ericsson and Autoliv, move manufacturing abroad and close down large work places in
Sweden, but it is rarely noticed that many large engineering corporations, like Scania, Volvo,
Atlas Copco, Alfa Laval and Sandvik, also close down factories in other European countries and
concentrate their highly automated European manufacturing, especially metal cutting (turning,
milling, grinding drilling etc.), to Sweden. Thus there is still a very high concentration of highly
automated factories for cutting metal located, close to the R&D departments, on a 500
kilometers long and 300 kilometers wide belt from Stockholm on the east coast to Gothenburg
on the west coast of Sweden. All larger R&D related ICT consultancy firms in Sweden have
most of their offices located on this very belt.
Sticking to the nuts and bolts
Most consultancy firms hold very little (or none) intellectual property rights (IPR). During the
1990s some R&D related consultancy companies, e.g. Enea, developed products of their own.
But these companies now have left the industry. Today most successful R&D related
consultancy firms stick to their nuts and bolts. There seems to be a common understanding
between costumers and consultancy firms that the consultancy firms keep the right to reuse the
ways of working, invented in projects, while the customers keep all IPR. Furthermore most
consultancy firms are extremely cautious not to raise any suspicion that something, invented in
a specific project, ever could be used by the customer's competitors. As a consequence very few
patents regarding products are filed directly by consultancy companies.
A mix of business models
The Swedish consultancy industry is in general dominated by companies who charge their
customers by the hour. This is also true for the R&D related ICT consultancy firms, but most
companies perform a mix of fixed price assignments and charging by the hour. This far neither
consultancy firms nor customers have strived to give the consultancy firms a stake in a specific
product’s future success. However there are some examples of incentive models involving
parameters like production cost of electronic hardware.
170
It seems as if some companies, e.g. Combitech, who have most of their consultants working on
their customers´ premises, are more likely to charge their customers by the hour. Other
companies, e.g. SoftLab and Prevas, with more consultants working in house have been more
willing to strive for fixed price assignments.
Developing methods and processes
When the first 4 bit and 8 bit processors entered mechanical products, engineers used assembly
language to program functionality. In the beginning only few people were involved in rather
non-complex projects. But soon the development teams introduced more powerful and efficient
approaches to computerize their products. It seems as if a major technological change, and a
new generation of technical solutions, has been introduced every decade or so. These
technological “milestones” also gave opportunities to introduce new methods, concepts, roles,
programming languages, operating systems, development tools and hardware.
Initially many engineering companies suffered heavily from expensive maintenance of existing
embedded systems due to delivery-specific versions of software, which required special source
code instead of just configuration of data. Many experiences have been drawn from each
development project. The larger R&D related consultancy firms seem to be on the forefront in
gathering experience. They play an important role when spreading the gained best practice to
new industries, new companies and new product areas.
Ever since the introduction of high-level computer languages for embedded computer systems
so called cross compilers are required, along with debugging tools to interact with the more
generic desktop development environments. Continuously more engineers have been introduced
in the development activities and in turn the need for configuration and change management,
frameworks for software testing, build scripts and product-line architecture has increased vastly.
Final remark
Ericsson did not choose to rely entirely on in-house competence when the company successfully
coped with the transformation to a disruptive technology. As a consequence Ericsson gave birth
to a new R&D related ICT consultancy industry, which today is a vital part of the fastest
growing ICT sector in Sweden. Our analysis shows that this new industry successively has
broadened its customer base. Consultancy companies started to develop embedded systems for
engineering companies that still were in a specific phase of their life cycle and with an existing
dominant design in their products. One question that we raise is if the externalization of R&D
related ICT development gave engineering and manufacturing industries as well as other
industries in Sweden a competitive advantage, since the necessary competence to develop both
new products and efficient production systems was available to buy on the domestic market.
Chapter 14 is to some extent an answer to that question!
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13 ICT in other sectors
Annika Rickne, Eric Giertz, Timo Seppälä, and Mika Pajarinen
This chapter provides an overview of how ICT permeates non-ICT industries. We discuss
the cross-industry importance of big data, cloud computing and Internet of Things (IoT).
While the ICT sector in and of itself is large and vibrant, ICT as a pervasive technology
sifts into and influences, or even revolutionizes, most economic sectors.
13.1 Digitalization in non-ICT sectors
Information and communication technologies are changing products, services and competitive
conditions in virtually all businesses and industries. In this way, ICT knowledge permeates
activities in many traditional, or previously not digitalized, sectors. Naturally, the ICT sector (as
defined in this report) and the sectors using ICT are co-dependent and collaborating as
producers and users, suppliers and customer, co-developers. ICT becomes more integrated into
products and services in other sectors, and these industries contain a larger share of ICT related
knowledge and skill sets, and build their competitiveness to an increasing extent on ICT-related
competence. ICT related tools and processes change the way one does business, create new
market opportunities and lower costs.
It seems as researchers and companies alike agree that while much innovation and cost cuts
have already been achieved, the large potential is still ahead. It is truly difficult to measure the
productivity and growth gains ICT has on other sectors. This has been referred to as the Solow
paradox.
Swedish calculations show that digitalization contributed to 32% of the country’s productivity
growth during the time period 1995–2005, and 42% from 2006 to 2013. However, even though
there is much investment in ICT technology in a number of sectors, the productivity gain is – as
measured in this manner - almost entirely fount in that ICT sector in itself, and not in other
sectors of the economy.
This rhymes well with OECD figures revealing that work productivity in general is higher in the
IT sector. Sweden has had one of the best productivity increases in the 2000s. In 2012,
Sweden’s general work productivity was 10% higher than the OECD average (behind e.g. USA,
Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark), and the Swedish IT sector is 60%
ahead of the average (behind e.g. USA, Ireland, Belgium, Canada). Finland’s productivity
figures are close to the OECD average, both as regards the economy as a whole and the IT
sector.
Even though productivity advances are difficult to measure in other sectors, there are clear links
between innovation and the degree to which organizations use ICT, but the causality between
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the two is not obvious. ICT has brought significant changes to how companies do business. ICT
comes into all parts of the operations: technological and competence platforms, development
processes, process equipment, internal administration, decentralization processes, communications, global networks, service offerings, customer communication, access to global markets,
etc. Naturally, to invest in ICT technology or equipment is not sufficient, but associated
structural, organizational and operational changes are necessary. New possibilities continuously
emerge, and today big data, cloud computing, and Internet of things poses new challenges and
opportunities.
Changes spurred by ICT technologies and digitalization relate to basically all business sectors.
Out of the manufacturing firms, the engineering sector has undergone a change process towards
embedded systems linked to Internet of things. Since this is such a crucial change process we’ll
spend an entire chapter on its development in Sweden, and discuss how some main firms have
handles these competence shifts and disruptive technological and organizational alternations.
Also, the media sector has faced a profound structural change in this respect. On a positive note,
their services are increasingly digitally distributed which has spurred the segment's rapid
development. Meanwhile, the development also involves challenges. Through ICT-based
consumption patterns (for example, file sharing), in particular the film and music industry’s
established logic and business models have been challenged. Digitally distributed content has
also created revenue shortfalls, particularly for printed news media. In recent years, however,
from companies – including some Swedish ICT-based companies such as Spotify – demonstrated new functional business and revenue models, often linked to streaming based
subscription services. More and more consumers choose to become a subscriber to streaming
services, which media professionals must gradually adjust to. Although the music and film
industry looks to adapt to new types of subscription models, it is uncertain how the news media,
especially originating in traditional print media, will be able to establish effective business
models in line with increased digitalization.177
Another, quite different type of sector, significantly affected by ICT technologies is the retail
sector. Retail increasingly incorporates ICT into its offers. Computers were introduces in the
back office for ordering and invoicing in the the 1970s, electronic cash registers and bar codes
(such as European article numbers) during the 1980s, and automated bar code reading in the
checkout systems during the 1990s. Today ICT is used to capture market shares through
increased customer and interaction. In addition, some of the sector has been transformed into
web shops.
Yet another area which has captured much attention in recent years involves changes on both
the user/patients part and for care givers: e-health – or distributed health – is expected to
revolutionize how health care is delivered and to whom. More importantly, it will – and perhaps
already has – alter the way we look at health and wellbeing, as well as the role the patient has in
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The changes in various sectors, and their increased ICT content, imply that the delineation of the ICT sector as
such becomes fuzzier. For example, it is fair to ask whether not the media industry, due to changes in technology and
competence base, nowadays could be seen as a part of the ICT sector. We will however leave these issues of
delineation aside.
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this process. ICT presents opportunities for patients to be involved in all parts of the process.
Readily available information access through the Internet makes patients and their relatives
knowledge, making them able to pose questions and demands, ask for the latest treatment, or
choose between alternative care providers. Information access has also created opportunities for
new types of self-care, as has ICT-based instruments for e.g. monitoring heart functioning or
glucose levels. In effect, all this means that the basic routines of care are about to change
drastically. This places pressures on governments and regions to develop new effective
interaction and forms of dialogue between patient organizations and health professionals, to
understand how to prioritize resources, and to be proactive in terms of regulations. It also
changes the premises for care givers. In addition, patient organizations take on a more central
role.
Another industry which has undergone a fundamental change through digitalization is banking.
Today banks operate ICT networks which are similar and as complex as ICT networks run by
telecom operators. In Sweden, a cash less society is now close to be realized.
The examples above also make it clear that the ICT sector is, naturally, inherently dependent on
its customer industries: these other sectors contribute significantly to the growth of the ICT
sector. Through their demands on hardware, software, ICT consulting, service and maintenance,
operations, cloud services - and by choosing to outsource rather than develop in-house - these
customer segments induce an expansion of the ICT sector as such.
Recently, what is popularly denoted as ‘the sharing economy’ is also on the rise. ‘Driven by
digitalization, the Sharing Economy involves the peer-to-peer exchange of tangible and
intangible slack … resources … However, the elimination of third-party intermediaries means
that risks are often borne by the providers and consumers of resources rather than by a central
actor.’ 178 The sharing economy may have substantial effects not only how we do business, on
the competitive landscape and probably on pricing and availability of services. It may also
affect productivity – something that is now difficult to discern in public statistics and GDP
figures. While the sharing economy presupposes some values of equality, sustainability and
good use of resources, the business models of network based increasing returns, means that
early movers or firms successfully attracting a large customer base have a clear advantage.
13.2 Recent trends
As mentioned above, some of the recent trends of how ICT integrates into our economies relate
to what we may call big data, cloud computing, and Internet of Things.
Big data and cloud computing
The popular concept of ‘big data’ denotes that organization – firms and governments and others
– have during latter years found new use for the large sets of structured and unstructured data
available. Enormous amounts of data points are collected – through machine communication,
sensors, social media, etc. – and as these data now can be stored to a reasonable cost the issue
becomes one of how to deal with this data in a timely and accurate manner to create value.
178
Felländer et al. (2015, p.7).
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Technical issues related to speed, real-time collection and analysis, making formats compatible,
etc. Careful use of such data resources may help understanding of phenomena, guide in decision
processes, or provide a competitive advantage through cost cuts, innovation or market
knowledge.
Cloud computing is a way to handle such big data as well as to offer other services. A cloud
have been defined as ‘a platform or infrastructure that enables execution of code (services,
applications etc.), in a managed and elastic fashion’ (European Commission, 2010, p. 9), where
elasticity refer to load-balance and scalability. There are clouds with different functionality:
resources (storage), services, computation and analysis.
One may argue that cloud computing in essence is nothing new but has in its main parts been
there all along. Cloud computing is really a model for service delivery, and many sites may be
connected to form the cloud and its inherent possibilities. Such high capacity computing can
give solutions for many organizations, and for most computational problems. It offers fast and
affordable data analysis. With a propensity to outsource ICT capacity and competence this
decreases the need for managing some forms of ICT related issues, and instead concentrating on
others. Importantly, development times and time-to-market can be reduced when relying on
partner organizations specialized in big data analysis and cloud computing. Cloud services
offers opportunities to test various solutions and business models, and gives comparably low
entry costs in several sectors. In this way, the cloud might be especially serviceable to small
firms and start-ups, offering both supple and resourceful ways to access hardware and software.
Supercomputing, on the other hand, implies specialized needs and only has a more limited
customer base.
To the user it should be indifferent who provides the service as long as it is of suitable quality.
The most prominent feature of the cloud is perhaps its scalability. Storage through the network,
server time, on demand services, etc., are not only rebranding of previous existing feature but
rather signal extensions with immense prospective. Potential concerns relate to security, loss of
control over the organizations core information assets and vulnerability to providers’ potential
failures. Today there are still both technological and organizational or content related elements
to be solved, and much proposed potential of the clod is still to be fulfilled.
While the US currently take on a global lead in providing resources for cloud computing, some
point to Europe having joint opportunities when it comes to procuring and producing a global
cloud ecosystem. This in turn opens up for various new roles, such as cloud hosts, software
developers, tools providers and users as data partners.
This relates especially to common research efforts, policies and regulation. As discussed in the
other chapters of this report, both Swedish and Finnish firms are active in taking several of these
roles.
On the user side, it seems as Swedish firms are switching over to cloud based services at a
higher speed than its European counterparts. Hybrid solutions - with part internal operations and
part cloud reliance – have been adapted by 63 per cent of the Swedish as compared to the
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European average of 45%, and only 36% of Swedish respondents had own server facilities (50%
in Europe).
Internet of Things
The term Internet of things – or Industrial internet – was popularized by General Electric in
early 2000s. GE’s industrial internet scenario was mainly oriented to industrial manufacturing
systems or equivalent, efficiency of equipment and systems used in the manufacturing
operations (e.g., energy consumption, predictive maintenance, and production optimization).
It has been suggested that Internet of Things (IoT) may cause the third industrial revolution. The
first revolution machines replaced human labor, revolutionizing the manufacture of the scale,
productivity, and improving workers’ quality of life products. Another revolution, the Internet,
laid the foundation for a new kind of way of doing business regardless of location data. With
IoT, smart devices and machine-to-machine communications become an increasingly important
part of the virtual world. Cloud computing is IoT’s technical foundation. IoT uses big data for
intelligent data analysis increases the usefulness of connected machines. The various objects
commune not directly with one another, but with a central node where data is analyzed,
coordinated and sometimes combined, and then reiterated to the object or objects.
In the current early stage of IoT developments, most industrial companies use their internal
platforms and most of collected data stays within companies’ firewalls. If so, the main idea is to
the company’s products and services over their life cycle. Reaching even this stage remains a
considerable challenge. For example, in our interview one industrial engineering company in
Finland noted that “Some 60% of our products ship with Internet connectivity. In about 40% of
these, the product is actually connected to the Internet. Thus, about 24% feed data back to our
internal platform.” Deploying IoT to provide maintenance and support is a good first step, albeit
far from the ultimate vision associated with IoT, which involves all-encompassing and largely
autonomous communication between relevant aspects of physical environment in such a way
that needs of businesses and individuals are met as they emerge.
Ultimately IoT changes the design philosophy of the products and services: the software is no
longer embedded into smart products and services, but the smart products and services are
increasingly embedded into software.
13.3 IT using sectors in Finland
To illustrate the trends discussed above both as regards the importance of ICT in a variety of
sectors, and the specifics of big data, cloud computing and IoT, in this section we discuss these
issues in light of Finnish data. The themes covered are software development, the effects of
digitalization on firms’ products, big data and related analytics, and IoT.
Our data is derived from on a large firm-level survey which was conducted by ETLA in the late
spring 2015. It includes nearly 5000 useable responds related to the ICT use. The results
reported in this section have been weighted in order to be representative to the whole business
sector. The industry classification we employ is presented in Table 13.1.
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Table 13.1: The industrial classification employed in this chapter
ICT MANUFACTURING
See Chapter 3. The categories below exclude ICT .
ICT SERVICES
See Chapter 3. The categories below exclude ICT .
PRIMARY PRODUCE
Agriculture, forestry & fishing
Mining & quarrying
FOODSTUFFS
Manuf. of food products
Manuf. of beverages
Manuf. of tobacco products
TEXTILES, APPAREL
Manuf. of textiles
Manuf. of wearing apparel
Manuf. of leather & related products
PULP, PAPER, WOOD
Manuf. of wood & cork products (excl. furniture)
Manuf. of paper & paper products
Printing & reproduction of recorded media
CHEMICALS
Manuf. of coke & refined petroleum products
Manuf. of chemicals & chemical products
Pharmaceuticals
Manuf. of rubber & plastic products
METAL, MINERAL PR.
Manuf. of other non-metallic mineral products
Manuf. of basic metals
ELECTRICAL EQUIP.
Manuf. of computer, electronic & optical products (excl. ICT)
Manuf. of electrical equipment
MECH. MACHINERY
Manuf. of machinery & equipment n.e.c.
Manuf. of motor vehicles, trailers & semi-trailers
Manuf. of other transport equipment
OTHER MANUF.
Manuf. of furniture
Other manufacturing
Repair & installation of machinery & equipment
ENERGY, WATER
Electricity, gas, steam & air conditioning supply
Water supply; sewerage, waste mngnt, remediation activities
CONSTRUCTION
Construction
TRADE
Wholesale & retail trade; repair of motor vehicles/cycles
LOGISTICS, COMM.
Transportation & storage
Information & communication (excl. ICT)
HOTELS, RESTAUR.
Accommodation & food service activities
FINANCIAL SERV.
Financial & insurance activities
Real estate activities
Source: ETLA.
Software development
In total, every third of the Finnish companies have either in-house or out-contracted software
development. Software development is the most common in ICT services, in which 75% of the
firms have been engaged in software development. Another industry in which over half of the
firms have either in-house or out-contracted software development is electrical equipment
industry (excluding ICT manufacturing). The share of firms who do software development
either in-house or by out-contracting is the lowest in energy and water supply, and in hotels and
restaurants, in which clearly less than 20% have such an activity.
Out-contracted software development is more prevalent in the Finnish business sector than
doing it in-house. Every fourth of the firms have out-contracted software development but only
every tenth do it in-house. By industry, out-contracted software development is the most
endemic in logistics and communication (excluding ICT services) and in mechanical machinery,
in which about one third of the firms have engaged in this sort of activity. On the other hand, inhouse software development is the most common in ICT services in which over half of the firms
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are doing this activity. Outside of ICT industries, in-house software development is most
frequently observed in electrical equipment industry (excluding ICT manufacturing) in which
about 40 percent of the firms have own IT development workers. In contrast, in textiles and
apparel, in hotels and restaurants, and in energy and water supply in-house IT development is
rare.
Figure 13.1: Software development and related sub-contracting by industry, %
ELECTRICAL EQUIP.
MECH. MACHINERY
LOGISTICS, COMM.
BUSINESS SERV.
FINANCIAL SERV.
FOODSTUFFS
EDUCATION
HEALTH & SOC. S.
TRADE
METAL, MINERAL PR.
CONSTRUCTION
PRIMARY PRODUCE
OTHER MANUF.
OTHER SERVICES
CHEMICALS
PULP, PAPER, WOOD
TEXTILES, APPAREL
HOTELS, RESTAUR.
ENERGY, WATER
ICT SERVICES
ICT MANUFACTURING
Total business sector
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Share of firms with in-house software development
Share of firms with (just) out-contracted development
Source: Etla 2015 survey.
Digitally-enhanced products
One third of the Finnish firms see that digitalization is enhancing their products by creating
ways to add new features to them. This belief is the strongest in ICT services in which nearly
two thirds of the firms agree with this claim. Also among the firms in financial services and in
business services there is a great trust in opportunities created by digitalization. In these
industries about 40 percent of the firms agree with the statement that their offerings are
178
enhanced by digitalization to a quite or very considerable extent. The lowest belief in business
opportunities created by digitalization is in chemical industry and in energy and water supply in
which only 2–4 percent of firms are confident that digitalization is enhancing their products.
Figure 13.2: By industry shares of firms providing digitally-enhanced products or services, %
FINANCIAL SERV.
BUSINESS SERV.
LOGISTICS, COMM.
EDUCATION
ELECTRICAL EQUIP.
HEALTH & SOC. S.
TRADE
OTHER SERVICES
CONSTRUCTION
OTHER MANUF.
TEXTILES, APPAREL
MECH. MACHINERY
METAL, MINERAL PR.
HOTELS, RESTAUR.
FOODSTUFFS
PULP, PAPER, WOOD
PRIMARY PRODUCE
ENERGY, WATER
CHEMICALS
ICT SERVICES
ICT MANUFACTURING
Total business sector
0
10
20
30
Quite considerable extent
40
50
60
70
80
Very considerable extent
Source: Etla 2015 survey. Share of firms stating that their offerings are enhanced by digitalization to a quite or very
considerable extent
Big data and related analytics
One third of the Finnish firms foresee that big data and related analytics have an impact on their
industry during the next three years. This view is the strongest by industry among ICT services
in which over 60 percent of the companies think that big data and related analytics are changing
the industry. Also in business services (39%) and in logistics and communication (38%)
companies foresee frequently that big data will have an impact to their industry in the next
179
years. On the other hand, in energy and water supply and in chemical industry less than 10
percent of the firms assume that big data will change their industry during the coming years.
Figure 13.3: The future impact of big data and related analytics by industry, %
BUSINESS SERV.
LOGISTICS, COMM.
FINANCIAL SERV.
FOODSTUFFS
EDUCATION
HEALTH & SOC. S.
ELECTRICAL EQUIP.
MECH. MACHINERY
PULP, PAPER, WOOD
TRADE
METAL, MINERAL PR.
CONSTRUCTION
OTHER SERVICES
OTHER MANUF.
HOTELS, RESTAUR.
PRIMARY PRODUCE
TEXTILES, APPAREL
CHEMICALS
ENERGY, WATER
ICT SERVICES
ICT MANUFACTURING
Total business sector
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Share of firms foreseeing an impact and investing in
Share of firms foreseeing an impact but not investing in
Source: Etla 2015 survey.
The share of firms who foresee that big data will have an impact on the industry and who are
also themselves investing in it is the highest in ICT services in which 40% of the firms share
this opinion. This is almost two times higher share than in electrical equipment industry in
which the percentage is the next highest. Also in business services and in health and social
services nearly 20 percent of the firms foresee the impact of big data on their business and are
investing in it themselves.
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Internet of things
Internet of Things is seen as more significant phenomenon in the Finnish business sector than
big data during the next three years. 43% of the firms foresee that Internet of Things has an
impact on their industry whereas the corresponding percentage regarding big data is ten
percentage points lower.
Figure 13.4: The future impact of Internet of Things (IoT) by industry, %
ELECTRICAL EQUIP.
FOODSTUFFS
ENERGY, WATER
MECH. MACHINERY
METAL, MINERAL PR.
BUSINESS SERV.
TRADE
EDUCATION
FINANCIAL SERV.
LOGISTICS, COMM.
OTHER MANUF.
OTHER SERVICES
CONSTRUCTION
HEALTH & SOC. S.
PRIMARY PRODUCE
PULP, PAPER, WOOD
CHEMICALS
HOTELS, RESTAUR.
TEXTILES, APPAREL
ICT SERVICES
ICT MANUFACTURING
Total business sector
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Share of firms foreseeing an impact and investing in
Share of firms foreseeing an impact but not investing in
Source: Etla 2015 survey.
By industry, ICT services firms believe strongest that Internet of Things is changing their
business. This view is shared by two thirds of the companies in the industry. The shares are high
also in electrical equipment (62%) and in food industry (59%). In contrast, in textiles and
apparel, and in hotels and restaurants less than one fourth of the firms assume that Internet of
Things is changing their industry.
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The companies in electrical equipment industry are most commonly (58%) assuming that
Internet of Things will change their business and at the same time are investing in it themselves.
This is over ten percentage point higher than in ICT services in which this percentage is the next
highest. The share is the lowest in food industry, textiles and apparel and in hotels and
restaurants in which about 10% of the companies share this opinion. In contrast, almost half of
the firms in food industry believe that Internet of Things will influence their business, but they
are not investing in it themselves. The corresponding percentage is high also in energy and
water supply (35%). In electrical equipment industry it is rare to think that Internet of Things
will affect the industry but not to invest in it itself. Only 3% of the firms in this industry share
this view.
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14 ICT related technology shifts in the
engineering sector
Magnus Gens, Eric Giertz and Annika Rickne
Many Swedish engineering companies have successfully introduced embedded systems
into their complex products and mastered a disruptive technology better than foreign
competitors. This chapter is based on successful cases, which seem to have two things in
common. The case companies have worked closely together with demanding customers
and they have benefitted from previous experiences in telecom and defense industries.
14.1 Introduction
Sweden has often been recognized for its strength in engineering industries. Indeed, engineering
companies were already identified by Erik Dahmén when he in 1950 described important
development blocks in the Swedish industry. 179 Today Sweden hosts a blooming industry and
with several examples of global leaders. There are, in relation to the size of the country, a high
number of large Swedish engineering corporations in different subsectors.
We are in this chapter interested in how large and well established Swedish companies in the
engineering sector have handled technological shifts involving the move to an increasingly ICT
based competence platform, with embedded systems. New technology can be the basis for new
products, new services and new companies, but it can also be a threat to existing companies. As
a consequence great companies are challenged when new technology enters into their existing
products. This was also true for large engineering corporations in Sweden when digital
electronics made an entrance into traditional mechanical products some 50 years ago. We will in
this chapter focus on understanding how Swedish firms have acted to incorporate ICT-based
components and systems into their products.
As highlighted in a previous chapter (chapter12) there was, what we may call, a ‘first wave’ of
engineering companies experiencing technological shifts in the telecom and defense industries
(starting in the 1950s). These companies did not choose to rely entirely on in-house
competence. They also hired very qualified R&D related ICT consultants. From this, a new ICT
consultancy industry was born. In this chapter, we analyze the ‘second wave’ of engineering
companies experiencing ICT related technological shifts in their products (starting in the
1970s).
We base our analysis on, first, an overall description of the development of the Swedish
engineering sector leaning on long-term engagement in the field operatively and through
research. Second, the study rests on qualitative cases of seven well-established companies in
179
Dahmén (1989)
183
the engineering sector. Our selection is focused only on successful companies, in order to
address the issues of how technological disruptions were managed. The case companies
represent several important subsectors in the Swedish economy: Atlas Copco Tools and
Assembly Systems and Alfa Laval and DeLaval in machinery, Scania and Autoliv Electronics
in automotive, Electrolux in small appliances, Nibe developing heating systems and Maquet
Critical Care in medical critical care.180 To learn more about how the engineering companies
transformed their technology base and in essence partly became software development
companies, we focused on their R&D operations and conducted interviews with key individuals
with knowledge about the transition period.
14.2 The general development of the engineering sector
Software engineering – a radical shift in product development
The engineering firms we focus on are today well-established and often one of the global
leaders in their industry. Most of them were founded in the late nineteenth or early twentieth
century, and originally developed and manufactured purely mechanical products. Already some
50 years ago they could be considered fairly old companies in rather mature industries.
According to Utterback they would be in the specific phase of an industrial life cycle. 181 Their
industries had left the fluid phase, with a lot of new inventions and new ventures, and the
transitional phase, with the emergence of a dominant design, and moved into the specific phase,
which is characterized by low-unit-cost production of highly specified products. However, a
major change started in the engineering industry some 50 years ago when digital electronics
made an entrance into their typically complex and assembled products: Software engineering
thus became an important ingredient in product development in the engineering industry.
In some industries, e.g. the telecommunication industry, digital electronics caused a major shift
in almost all parts of the entire product. Until the 1950s all telephone exchanges were purely
mechanical. In the 1960s so called electronic switching systems were introduced on a small
scale and during the 1970s telephone exchanges (e.g. Ericsson´s AXE-system) completely
controlled by computers were introduced at a large scale. In these systems a program was stored
in the memory and the processor executed the instructions automatically one by one. An
immediate consequence of program control was full-scale automation of exchange functions
and introduction of new functions to users. Computer controlled exchangers grew rapidly and
completely took over the industry in the 1980s. This introduction of a disruptive technology was
initially rejected by mainstream customers and some then leading companies in the
telecommunication industry did unwittingly bypass opportunities until it was too late (see
chapter 2).
180
Some other important companies in the engineering sector are Ericsson in telecommunications, Volvo in
automotive, Saab in defense, Husqvarna in appliances, SKF in ball bearings and Sandvik in hard materials. In
addition there is ABB, a Swiss-Swedish owned company in electrical equipment, and former Swedish owned
companies now belonging to foreign corporations, like Bombardier in transport and ITT Flygt in submersible pumps,
with important R&D and manufacturing still in Sweden.
181 Utterback (1994)
184
This was a radical shift in technology and the need for mechanical engineering was - during a
rather short period of time - replaced by a tremendous need for qualified software engineers.
Introducing computers to carry out control functions of a telephone exchange was not as simple
as using computers for commercial data processing, and hence the competence was rather scarce
in Sweden as elsewhere. A machine, like a telephone exchange, must run automatically and
without interruption around the clock. This called for special expertise that could develop
compilers, data warehousing, billing systems and so on, for billions of automated transactions.
Within telecommunications, digital electronics initiated a major shift in almost the whole
product system. In other industries - e.g. the defense and automotive industry - software
engineering was already at an early stage essential for developing some vital parts of the
complete products, e.g. control systems and injection systems. Other (mechanical) parts stayed
more or less unchanged for a longer period of time. The same is true for engineering companies
making different kinds of machinery or appliances. The dominant design of the complete
product stayed unchanged and the industry as a whole more or less stayed in the specific phase
of the industrial life cycle.
Being in the specific phase of the life cycle makes it important to focus on the efficiency in
manufacturing and other processes. The companies that still manufactured assembled products
with mechanical components were all major users of factory automation. Thus, the need for
mechanical engineering almost stayed unchanged but it was complemented by a great need of
software engineering for product as well as process innovation. Many of these companies also
hired R&D related ICT consultancy firms when developing e.g. control systems and embedded
systems as integrated parts in their complex product systems as well as their manufacturing
systems.
For some engineering companies e.g. in the machinery industry, their own process development
as well as their product development (of process equipment) was, closely linked to the
development of automated manufacturing systems. Companies like Atlas Copco (making
equipment for underground mining and industrial tools and assembly systems), DeLaval
(milking systems), and Sandvik (tools and tooling systems for metal cutting) focused during the
1980s on the development of more integrated and automated production systems to help their
customers improve productivity and lower labor cost in their various production systems.
The larger engineering corporations in Sweden generally coped very well with the transformation that took place when digital electronics became an essential part of their products. They
often gained market shares on the global market when the transformation shook out smaller
competitors. But other Swedish industries, with a mainly domestic customer base, did not
survive the transformation. The Swedish machine tool industry is one example. Until the 1970s
the machine tool industry was one of the key Swedish industries. It had achieved international
recognition, and as an equipment supplier it had played an important part in the international
success of Swedish engineering industry. It consisted of a large number of small companies,
each manufacturing their own types of machine tools (turning, milling, grinding, punching,
drilling, etc.), but the competitive conditions changed when computerization and more
integrated and automated manufacturing systems were introduced during the 1960s and 1970s.
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When computerized numerical control (CNC) was introduced the computers were built into the
machine tool control systems in multi-operation machines and they were capable of controlling
several machine functions simultaneously. The technology matured quickly and CNC-machines
soon were the rule rather than the exception in engineering companies in Sweden. It was a
radical shift and many small Swedish machine tool firms with long traditions went into
bankruptcy. In the middle of the 1980s almost the entire machine tool industry in Sweden was
completely wiped out. The small Swedish companies could not compete with larger
competitors, e.g. Japanese machine tool firms, which produced standardized machines for a
much larger market. 182
Software engineering in process development
Swedish engineering industry was, even when the Swedish machine tool industry went into
bankruptcy, one of the foremost in the world in terms of automation. During the 1980s it had a
very high penetration of CNC machines, industrial robots and automated material handling
systems. 183 Several of the large Swedish engineering companies also introduced automation
products, originally developed for their own manufacturing systems, to the market. Examples of
these were ABB´s and Electrolux´s industrial robots, Volvo´s Auto Carrier System and
Sandvik´s Block Tool.
However, the most profound results of automation were not teased out when CNC machines,
industrial robots or automatic material-handling systems were stand-alone units. It was only
when these automation elements were linked together and combined with the feasibility of
concentrating the remaining and essential manual labor contributions that the really significant
economic gains were made. Production could then continue with a minimum of personnel for
long uninterrupted periods. A new production engineering expertise was born, and integrated
manufacturing systems with limited manning emerged. They developed flexible manufacturing
systems (FMS) consisting of machine tools, tool changers, industrial robots, transport devices,
automated stores, technical and administrative computer systems and other items and
services. 184
In the middle of the 1980s the need for expertise in process control systems, embedded systems
and industrial communications programs formed the basis for a new R&D related ICT
consultancy sector. The technical competence was very similar to the ICT consultancy sector
related to product development, but the application focus was entirely on developing industrial
manufacturing systems. Some of the customers were engineering companies developing
automation products and product systems for their own end-customers. The ICT consultancy
firms also worked for costumers in other industries, who ordered customized automation for
their own production.
Ericsson, who successfully handled a radical shift in product technology, did not choose to rely
entirely on in-house competence. Ericsson also gave birth to a lot of very qualified R&D related
ICT consultants. A new ICT consultancy industry, which was very different from the ERP
182
Ehrnberg and Jacobsson (1995)
Carlsson and Jacobsson (1997)
184 Giertz (1987)
183
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consultancy business already in place, was born during the 1970s (see chapter 12). This
newborn industry grew fast and played an important role in product development and helped
other engineering corporations to master the dynamics of innovation, which occurred when
digital electronics made an entrance into their products.
14.3 Cases of ICT driven technology shifts
The cases presented below all tell us stories about how well-established Swedish companies in
the engineering sector have handled technological shift involving the move to an ICT based
competence platform.
From pneumatic to electric powered tools
The story of Atlas Copco Tools and Assembly Systems (ACTA) reveals the critical role of early
and demanding customers and how external consultants were combined with building own
internal expertise. ACTA is a vital part of the Industrial Technique Business Area in the Atlas
Copco Group. The business area has about 5,000 employees and annual sales are around 11
Bsek. ACTA develop, manufactures and markets handheld power tools and systems. Until the
mid-1980s ACTA only offered pure mechanical and mostly pneumatically powered tools.
Today, ACTA’s revenues are dominated by electrically powered tools with substantial
embedded software and control electronics.
The activities to develop embedded software started in 1987 when ACTA began to evaluate new
transistors for power electronics in nut-runners. At this point the company put together a small
group of engineers to evaluate the possibilities of new power electronics. It had previously
assessed transistors in grinding machines but dismissed them because they did not add enough
value in that application. In assembly applications on the other hand, benefits were more
obvious since customers required precision control and traceability. Thus, customer demand
was the driving force that initiated the transition to electronic control and power in assembly
tools.
In 1989 ACTA received an order from the new American car manufacturer Saturn. Saturn,
established by GM in 1985, wanted to build modern factories and had decided to rely entirely
on electric tools. Saturn soon found that the range of electric tools was rather limited and it
proved somewhat difficult to find appropriate tools for all applications. This constituted a
business opportunity for ACTA. A deep and long-term cooperation developed, which included
ACTA’s extensive hands-on work in Saturn's factories in the United States. The collaboration
resulted in a new product called Tensor. During a few critical and successful years ACTA
delivered around 1,500 handheld tightening tools to Saturn. The Swedish engineers were looked
upon as crucial resources by the plant management in Saturn. For ACTA's part, it was an
efficient way to finalize a prototype like product. There was a definite deadline when the
customer had to ‘go live’, which forced ACTA to solve initial problems in a very compressed
time frame. Johan Wallgren was at the time an electronics engineer and is still with the
company. Today he is a senior manager but still involved in the product development of low
torque tools. According to Wallgren, ACTA could quickly increase the product quality thanks to
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intense debugging activities in the factories. To have a demanding customer put positive
pressure on the company.
"It was a highly efficient way to develop the product. Maybe not always cost effective, but
definitely a time-efficient way to debug the product. We spent a lot of time at the customer’s
premises and were constantly replacing components, cables, etc. It was a challenging time
but it helped us increase our level of quality rapidly. I think this was a success in itself.”
In 1994, ACTA launched a new generation of screw and nut runners called Focus 2000. The
development team consisted of 5-10 engineers, and one engineer was now fully allocated to
software development. The embedded computer was still programmed entirely without support
of an operating system. Focus 2000 allowed integration with the factory networks, which
established the foundation for an extreme sales success. During the late 1990s, customers asked
for more functionality and network communication. During this era, the power electronics were
developed by a specialized, external consultancy company (Mikrologik). Micrologik was
acquired by Atlas Copco, and changed name to Atlas Copco Controls in 1991. The consultancy
company thus formed the base for building ACTA’s own expertise in embedded systems.
To manage the shift in technology and handle the massive software engineering expansion that
followed, ACTA has built up its own competence and recruited intensively during the last 25
years, from a handful electronics and software engineers in 1990 to some 50 engineers today.
During all this time ACTA has also interacted with several consulting companies with different
specialized experience from software development work in other Swedish industries.
From milking machines to fully automated milking
Our next case above all illustrates how a company has handled the shift through a refined
balanced of own competence development and recruitment, and engaging external consultants
to open up for new solutions in a more systematic manner. DeLaval (former Separator) was
established in 1883 and is today a leading producer of dairy and farming machinery. DeLaval
offers automatic and conventional milking systems, cooling and feeding systems, effluent and
housing systems and farm management support systems. The company has its head office in
Tumba, Sweden, and is part of the Tetra Laval group. The company has about 20 factories
worldwide; employs around 5,000 people and annual sales are around 10 Bsek.
Initially DeLaval (through Separator and Alfa Laval) was based on patents around separation
technique. One of the original applications of a separator was to separate cream from milk.
Through its involvement in the dairy industry, DeLaval also developed a vacuum-based milking
machine and has since the 1920s had a strong position on the global market. Milking machines
were pure mechanical products until the end of the 1970s, but then a major shift of technology
started. Today, DeLaval develop, markets, installs and maintains more or less automated
systems for the milking of cattle.
The introduction of software began around 1978, when a specialized company in the Tetra
Laval group - Alfa Laval Automation - developed a system (Alfa Recordings) that analyzed
milk from specific individual cows in the yard crew and regulated the feeding based on
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automated calculations. The innovation incorporated computers and network technologies to log
data related to the individuals in the crew. The measured milk volume, and other parameters,
then decided the amount of feed that was assigned to an individual animal. Alfa Laval’s data
bus had shortcomings, which meant that DeLaval spent a lot of time with trouble shooting on
customer sites. In 1980, Uzi Birk decided that DeLaval should develop a proprietary data bus of
their own. At the time, Birk was an electronics engineer at the development department. He
stayed with the company until his recent retirement and was DeLaval’s key strategist and head
of development for over two decades.
"We were four engineers at this time; me, two engineers from Alfa Laval in Lund, and
another engineer whom I hired, and who had a background in Ericsson. One of the
engineers from Alfa Laval Automation had specific knowledge of both communication buses
and our application."
Up to that point DeLaval had chosen to ally with external suppliers of control systems, but now
they shifted strategy to rely on proprietary electronics and software. During the coming period
DeLaval expanded the electronics department with 35-40 multi-talented engineers, who were
skilled in software as well as electrical engineering.
"I hired experienced engineers with backgrounds from Ericsson, with knowledge of both
digital and analogue electronics. We hired both experienced and inexperienced engineers in
electrical engineering, but mostly experienced individuals."
In 1993 DeLaval acquired a UK based concept platform intended for fully automated milking of
cows. The fundamental principle was that the cows would voluntarily seek out an automatic
milking station when it was time to be milked.
"When we got to the launch of the robotic milking system, we called it the paradigm shift and
I worked more and more internally just to enable and support. Automatic milking - we had
now become a high-tech company.”
During a second decade (1995-2005) DeLaval expanded the team for electronics to about 60
people, where everyone in some way contributed to the development of the new digital systems.
Only in 1997 they needed to recruit 25 new engineers in the areas of digital electronics and
software. In addition, DeLaval used consultants with previous experiences from telecom and
defense projects.
"I had learned from previous experiences that it was next to impossible to enforce changes
in technology strictly with the existing staff, who was stuck in the existing solutions and
technology."
Over the years, DeLaval has gone from entrepreneurial activities in a fluid phase to more capital
intense product and service delivery on a global market. Initially the company competed with a
multitude of smaller companies on differentiated geographical markets. Some of these have
disappeared, and some has been acquired by DeLaval or others. At present, DeLaval operates a
large development unit in Sweden and a global marketing organization with involvement on all
continents.
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External expertise made Saab an early mover in car engines
The journey of how Scania developed the petrol engine used in cars with the Saab brand
illustrates the crucial in timing of understanding the need for a paradigm shift, and also to
identify where to source crucial knowledge. Scania was founded in 1891 and is a manufacturer
of commercial vehicles like buses and trucks. Scania had a very long experience from
development of combustion engines. When Scania merged with Saab in 1969 Scania got the
assignment to develop and manufacture Saab engines to replace previously used Ford engines.
In the late 1970s Scania developed a new turbo charged engine for the Saab 99 model. During
roughly the same period Sweden's politicians began to set ambitious environmental targets.
Sweden should become a leader in regulations on emission linked to automobile transports. The
engines at the time were based on strictly mechanical and electromechanical components.
Initially, engineers could deliver reduced emission through simple concepts like exhaust gas
recirculation (EGR) and overdrive, but they were quickly limited in the analogue technology
domain.
Hasse Johansson, an electrical engineer from Chalmers University in Gothenburg and founder
of the company Mecel in Åmål, had developed a concept regarding the analysis and control of
the combustion process in spark-ignition engines: more specifically of how to electronically
analyze the ion concentration in the gap between the electrodes of the spark plug. Per Gillbrand,
head of development at Scania, thought that a similar technology could be used for controlling
engine fuel injection, ignition and turbo systems, and Mecel was hired to make this happen. By
introducing an exhaust gas sensor the idea was that one would be able to measure the amount of
hydrocarbons in the exhaust gas and then automatically control fuel injection and ignition
position. Peter Gillbrand, the son of Per, who at the time worked as an engineer at Scania
describes how the technology shift started.
"When a catalyst converter is introduced there will be a need to control the engine much
more precisely. Even Scania extensively tried to combine catalysts with analog carburetors
and ignition systems. The most advanced carburetors approached a nuclear power plant in
complexity. There were extremely advanced and sophisticated solutions that demanded
skilled artisans with resemblance of the masterpiece of Swiss watchmaking."
Today Peter Gillbrand is the CEO of a specialized international automotive consultancy
company. Catalyst converters were introduced to reduce emissions and they required very
precise Lambda control. Lambda regulation is about precisely controlling the ratio between air
and fuel in a combustion engine. It was possible to use the catalyst converter together with the
most advanced carburetors, but it was very complicated without computerized control
technology in the toolbox. During a few years in the 1980s lambda control was the main
challenge for the engineers and PhDs in companies in the automotive industry.
"We got these incremental emission regulations in front of us, which basically meant that the
accepted emission levels would dimidiate every two or three years. We always struggled
with the level we were at the moment. We could possibly have vague ideas on how we could
reach the next emission level, but we had absolutely no idea about what the technological
design would look like. And today we are basically at a zero level regarding emissions
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compared to the regulatory demands of that time. But the funny thing is that in retrospect no
one seems to think that the journey has been especially dramatic."
Aggressive regulatory requirements regarding emission levels generated the need for more
complex and powerful control technology, which, in turn, spurred the introduction of digital
electronics. At an initial stage, Scania procured a controller from Bosch but Mecel began to
develop its own digital ignition system, APC. The proprietary system was integrated with the
turbo control system, and in the next phase control of the fuel system was integrated. SaabScania's development department had come to the conclusion that if the new emission
legislation would be met, and the engines would also have turbochargers, the technology
solution was to be based on software running on microcontrollers.
"We began developing our proprietary APC system due to that Bosch could not deliver turbo
control functionality, or they probably could, at PhD level, but the area was considered too
small, too exotic and not worth engaging in. But they were badly mistaken, our technology
belonged to the future, and today you find turbochargers in almost all cars."
At an initial stage a few skilled electrical engineers at Mecel and Scania could develop the new
digital electronics and its software. In the second phase, just a few years later, Scania began
using external expertise via specialized computer software engineers from consultancy
companies. These consultancy firms had experiences from prior projects in the defense and
telecom sectors. Today, merely a few global companies develop industrial combustion engines
complying with modern legislation.
Having an open mind towards external expertise and ideas helped Saab to become an early
mover. An extremely small car manufacturer in Sweden created a new standard for car engines
and the expertise from Mecel was crucial both to initiate and diffuse the invention. Mecel was
seen as very important to Scania. Saab Scania (through its subsidiary Combitech), also became
part owner of Mecel along with the founder Hasse Johansson. When Saab Automobile at a later
stage was separated from Saab Scania and sold to GM, Hasse Johansson was told to sell his
shares in Mecel. He later moved to the US to become technical director in GM’s electronics
division, and introduced the new technology throughout the GM organization before he returned
to Sweden and Scania.
Development of ventilators for intensive care
The case of ventilators as developed by Maquet Critical Care has a long history, and the
technological discontinuity, here under scrutiny, has been handled in a careful mainly internal
development process. In 1950 the Swede Carl Gunnar Engström invented the concept of
artificial respiration. The design and initial implementation of the Engström respirator was to
help patients who had suffered from respiratory paralysis as a result of polio. Engström’s
respirator consisted of a large piston driven by an electric motor that cycled air into the patient's
lungs. Today, modern ventilators incorporate a variety of parameters and principles by which
the ventilation of the lungs is conducted. They are complex machines that require extensive
training of its operators.
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Maquet Critical Care was founded in 1838 in Heidelberg, and has since 2000 been a part of the
Getinge Group’s business area medical systems. Maquet develops ventilators for critical care in
Solna and has about 400 employees and annual sales of around 1.5 Bsek.
Maquet has a long tradition of manufacturing ventilators. During the 1980s and 1990s it was
still difficult to solve the details of pressures and flows, and automatic control combined with
electrical engineering were critical areas of expertise. During this era, the development
department focused on doing the same thing as Engström’s machine from the 1960s, only
better, with the help of control technology and digital electronics. At this time some 5-10
engineers worked with control technology, sensors, measurement electronics and software.
Maquet had no engineer who worked full-time strictly with software; instead electrical
engineers carried out the programming. Around 2001 Maquet released a product called Power-I,
which became a great sales success, and won various design awards. The product was
considered revolutionary at the time and was centered around a simple interface, based on a
touch screen. The product was a major leap forward regarding architecture, testing capabilities,
debugging and design. Tomas Westerlund, an R&D manager and architect, describes the shift of
technological competence:
"In this building we have a very extensive knowledge about the pressures and flows. That’s
what earns our living, you could say. It has been that way since around the 1970s.
Nowadays, through the possibilities with software, we can make therapy more adapted to a
specific patient."
Maquet had transformed into a software developing company with a strong focus on testability,
design, product mindset and maintainability. In the spring of 2015 the company develops
products with around 120 engineers; of these 43 are software developers. Maquet also reinforces
its software grouping with about 20 external consultants.
"We have tried to do what Apple did for mobile phones with their iPhone. We are pretty close
to succeeding, actually. Normal introductory training for an operator of a specific ventilator,
even if you have driven ventilators earlier, is two or three days, up to a week. We have
tested and successfully accomplished to get experienced users to be up and running after
10 minutes. "
The new ventilators Power-U and servo-N were launched in 2014 and are both sprung from a
mutual system platform. Today Maquet sells its products on a highly competitive market and
parameters like integration capabilities and how fast it is possible to introduce new users to the
system are the crucial sales-success criteria. In the ventilators early year’s greater performance
linked to the basic application was the key to success. In the 1970s a handful engineers could
develop a ventilator but today it’s a matter of very capital intense operations. At the present date
only a few global companies can develop and market ventilators for intensive care.
From seat belts to car safety
The exciting story of Autoliv and Autoliv Electronics, with headquarters in Linköping, deals
with needs of ICT based technological competence for airbags and image processing and
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camera solutions for safety. Autoliv (former Autoservice, and established in 1953) develops
electronics for automotive purposes and has around 300 employees and annual sales around 2.2
Bsek. Autoliv started by producing seatbelts and grew its business through mergers and
acquisitions. In the early 1990s, Autoliv began its digital journey by the introduction of microcontrollers to control airbags in cars. Autoliv found the expertise needed to enter into a
completely new market in other existing companies. Autoliv had ideas of a number of
innovative solutions and was an early player on the market. The company also developed a
patented protective side curtain that became a standard solution throughout the world. Today,
the firm is one of very few car safety companies on the global arena.
The software required to control the air bags quickly became relatively complex due to the high
demands on system security. Former CEO of Autoliv Electronics, Bo Wass describes how the
technological change started:
"The development of airbags was made in collaboration with customers. As a foundation
there was a number of innovative principles for how to control the airbags (which was
Swedish technology), which would prove to make global impact. Autoliv engaged in these
product development activities by extensive use of both partners and subcontractors. At this
specific time Autoliv placed the airbag development, and production, at Nokia in Motala."
Nokia in Motala was sprung from Luxor, which at one time had been a manufacturer of home
electronics and computers (see chapter 5.4). At this time there was a lot of electronics expertise
in Motala. After an initial collaboration in 1995, Autoliv chose to buy 50% of Nokia's business
in Motala and then in 1998 to buy the remaining shares and transform the Motala unit into a
regular Autoliv site. Around year 2000, Autoliv, now located in Linköping, began
experimenting with cameras to detect the risk of drivers falling asleep.
Around 2001, 30-40 engineers were engaged in the development of Autoliv’s digital
electronics. The Motala unit had recently developed a telematics solution designed for
automated assistance in cars in the case of accidents. In 2004, Autoliv reorganized and the main
task for a new unit was to develop a night vision system, which initially was only a situation
awareness system for cars. A situation awareness system is intended to give the driver of a car
better ability to analyze the surroundings of the vehicle. The same year they also began the
development of a new night vision system with new features such as pedestrian detection.
Therefore, Autoliv Electronics - a subsidiary of Autoliv - began to strategically build up
expertise in image processing. One method for this was to cooperate with the Swedish research
institute FOI, which happened to be across the street in Linköping. The Linköping company
developed its first commercial night vision system (Autoliv's Night Vision 2), which came into
production in 2008, first in BMW and later in Audi. Night Vision 2 was Autoliv Electronics’s
first real product with digital imaging features. Since 2011 the area of active safety has
expanded extensively. With Night Vision 3 they also introduced features concerning animal
warning and this system went into production in 2013.
Autoliv Electronics has used external competences extensively to manage the technological
disruptions. Autoliv’s Linköping unit is located closely linked to the university, the defense
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company Saab and a substantial Ericsson development site. External software developing
consultants are continuously reinforcing the development work at Autoliv in Linköping. Today
only a few companies in the world can compete with Autoliv when it comes to digital vision
systems for automotive use.
The introduction of software into vacuum cleaners
Electrolux - established in 1919 by the merge between the companies Elektromekaniska and
Lux - has a history of developing vacuum cleaners and coffee machines and our focus here is on
the former product group. It is developed within Electrolux Small Appliances – a business unit
in Electrolux with roughly 2,600 employees and sales of around 8 Bsek. Until recently a
vacuum cleaner consisted strictly of mechanical components. The first digitalization dealt with
controlling the electric fan motor with more accuracy and to a lower cost. At this time the main
task for the development team was to design engine control units, destined to regulate speed of
the motors. By designing an integrated digital system based on a PIC processor, Electrolux got
an inexpensive solution that was far superior to the prior analog design. Furthermore, the
module also enabled new functionality for accessories, and could, for example, realize remote
control functionality so that the vacuum cleaner could be controlled from the nozzle via an IR
transmitter.
In 2007 Electrolux increased its focus on battery-powered vacuum cleaners that would build on
lithium batteries. Earlier, the batteries had been too bad to allow a vacuum cleaner that was
worthy of the name. With the new lithium technology, however, came a need for a
microcontroller based battery management systems to maintain and charge the vacuum cleaners
new power source. The first project that was delivered relied on a lithium battery and battery
management solution from a sub-contractor.
"Around 2010 we began to sketch on a modular system for battery products too. Basically,
one could choose which battery to insert and the system would automatically adapt its
battery supervision and battery management. So we began creating a module for this too.
It's in production today. Now we had two large module areas: one for ordinary vacuum
cleaners and one for battery machines. At the same time we started to create modules for
coffee machines, so now we have three different module areas to maintain.”
Around 2010, about five engineers worked with the development of electronics and software,
and the company had recently moved its R&D department to Stockholm from Västervik. After
the move Michael Persson, a development engineer, and another electrical engineer received the
task to design the foundations of Electrolux’s future electronics development capabilities.
Persson is today the development manager at the small appliances department.
"It made us think more and more about how we could modularize systems. Although there
are different models they are all the same product type; a vacuum cleaner is a vacuum
cleaner. We created one module in 2007, which today is used in all premium and middlerange vacuum cleaners. We have a modularized system now for both hardware and
software."
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In February 2015, 57 engineers work with electronics and software systems at Electroux in
Stockholm. At the electronics department both employees and consultants are working in the
development projects. According to Michael Persson, the shift of technology and the following
expansion has gone very quickly.
“By this time we saw something like an explosion; really, you could say that in 2009-2010
the need for embedded software engineers increased dramatically. In 2011 we initiated the
robot project, the development of a new robot vacuum cleaner, and it speaks for itself that
the demand for both hardware and software competence increased a lot. "
Regarding the conventional vacuum cleaners and coffee machines it is still about lighting some
indicating diodes, speed control of motors and facilitate limited remote control. In terms of
battery-powered vacuum cleaners, with lithium power sources, the software is an essential part
of the design due to their mandatory microcontroller-based battery monitoring systems. One
could say that software development is a necessity if one is to develop products that have
embedded lithium batteries.
Development of heat pumps
Nibe Industrier is a Swedish company developing and manufacturing heating systems: liquidbased heat pumps for buildings. The company was founded in 1949 in southern Sweden. From
the beginning Nibe manufactured and marketed heating systems for buildings, and has grown
organically and by numerous acquisitions of competing businesses over the years. Today, Nibe
has around 10,000 employees and sales of about 11 Bsek, sells its products on five continents
and is still growing rapidly. The industry in which Nibe Industrier is active has undergone
heavy consolidation over the years. Nibe and its current competitors have acquired many
smaller companies, while other firms have gone out of business.
The initial heat pump technology sprung from essentially the same principles as for a
refrigerator or a freezer. In 1998, merely two employees were working with engineering
activities in the field of electronics and software at Nibe in Markaryd. One engineer focused on
the hardware development and the other on software development. Already at this time, digital
electronics had made its entrance in the company's products.
"It’s all about controlling temperature. You have a lot of temperature sensors and then you
do the calculations, then you regulate. You control both a compressor and an immersion
heater. You control based on the heat demands, so to speak, not just based on the
temperature for the moment. You try to predict what future heating needs a client will have.
In order to keep down the compressor’s number of starts and stops we try to predict the
coming heat demand, and thus possibly buffer heat."
Around 2000 the Nibe management decided to modernize their product line and the company
initiated, with the help of Michael Persson and another electrical engineer, a development
project to produce a new platform for control of heat pumps. The platform was based on a
modular concept and featured a proprietary data bus that could connect all the company's
modules. The new platform was a success and was to form the functional foundation for their
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products over many years. Nibe chose early on to make use of external expertise through
consultants who had suitable previous experience, for instance from the automotive industry.
"Around the turn of the century ideas started to emerge regarding the intelligent home and
management wanted to be able to control the heat pump via a mobile phone. So we
developed our own proprietary bus system, we even created a proprietary protocol too."
14.4 Explaining the success in handling the technological
shifts
We were in this chapter interested in how large and well-established Swedish companies in the
engineering sector have handled technological shift involving the move to an ICT based
competence platform. How can we explain the success of Swedish engineering companies? Our
discussion below relates to recognizing the characteristics of the technological shifts,
competence sharing through ICT consultants, and extensive fieldwork with early, dominant
customers. It seems as insightful decision makers in Swedish industry have foreseen the
advantage that the new microcontrollers could give them. By staying patient and persistent
various Swedish industry companies managed to become early adopters of technology that
would give them an advantage in their specific industrial areas. Was the fact that various
management teams in Sweden had the courage to invest heavily in introducing ICT technology
in their products, based on experiences from industries like defense and telecom, before the
need from the market was obvious, in retrospect a key to success?
Recognizing the characteristics of the technological shifts
The manufacturing of mechanical parts in the companies’ core products is a well-established
process. In this way, the sector can be said to be in a specific and mature phase. In one way it’s
a very capital intense production system that manufactures assembled products in high volumes
with very specific methods and tools. On the other hand, ICT components add things like
traceability, increased accuracy, higher rates, yield improvement and configurability. ACTA’s
product line of industrial nut runners is such an example of an innovative ICT based product
that helps customers like Scania to increase its effectiveness a notch. Also, DeLaval adds value
and increased productivity as well as quality to dairy farms. The dairy farms production system
is an old and mature model but it can be optimized by innovative equipment like DeLaval’s
automated milking machines.
At the same time, to improve functionality in their products or increase the degree of
automation on their costumers premises, the companies developed embedded systems with a
new, ICT related competence base. Maquet in intensive care could be regarded as such a
company that helps its client to fine-tune its processes by innovative ICT based products from
the company’s development department. Also Electrolux Small Appliances provides such an
example with its launch of an autonomous vacuum cleaner, an actual cleaning robot for ordinary
people’s homes.
An important explanatory factor is the companies’ ability to recognize the characteristics of the
technological shifts, embracing a move into an enlarged software base. There are today a
196
number of Swedish industrial companies that have gone from being manufacturers of strictly
mechanical products to now being software-developing companies.
All of the studied companies have gone from conducting their development projects with multitalented engineers, to now having multiple highly specialized computer software engineers.
Software was at the time typically developed for one set of hardware, by one engineer, for a
specific product release. Today, the code base contains much IPR, system behavior parameters
and possible variants of the system. On the other hand, in most modern operations, the software
developing engineers need to know relatively little about the hardware in the products. The
embedded systems software has gone from being a necessity only, to now providing the key
features and unique selling points for many products.
Thus, this type of software development has become an increasingly larger and more important
element of the progress, and this shift in core competences needed for competing successfully
have lead the companies into a new, fluid phase of the industry lifecycle. This phase has been
characterized both by some firm’s failing to adapt to the technological shift, and to others
proving successful. It has also been a time of consolidation. These specific early movers of the
new technology rather quickly gained success. This in turn gave them the opportunity both to
obtain business from the competition, and to acquire smaller companies with interesting
business segments. The companies that could create momentum and thereby the gravity needed
to attract employees with the new essential competence seem to have outperformed its
competition. Eventually, these software development operations would become so capital
intensive that the dominant companies could be said to be active on an oligopoly market. By the
time of the introduction of the microcontrollers there were many smaller manufacturers acting
on more local markets. Many firms went out of business or were acquired as a consequence of
the technological disruption.
Swedish engineering companies have to a large extent come out as winners in this
transformation. Indeed, the studied firms have not only endured, but also exploited the
technology disruptions very well and gained an even stronger position on the global market
afterwards. They have handled the technological shift well, partly due to leaning on a solid
access to well-educated employees, and a profound competence base and experience regarding
production engineering, control systems and embedded systems technology. This has lead to a
now strong global position in development and manufacturing of production machinery and
process equipment. Today, many Swedish engineering companies are conducting global
operations on a highly competitive market, with relatively few but large competitors. Many of
these companies seem to be operating in an extremely capital intense environment with an
extensive aftermarket business.
Competence sharing through IT consultants
As a consequence of the first wave of engineering companies – outlined in the beginning of this
chapter - a new ICT consultancy pool was created. This led to that R&D related ICT
consultancy firms, born from the late 1960s and on, would play an important role in research
and product development also for the second wave of engineering firms. The decline of
Ericsson in 2000 also created a pool of available consultants looking for new customers. Based
197
on their long-term competence and skills they could help engineering corporations, as well as
companies in other industries, to master the dynamics of innovation.
Indeed, all the studied companies that began its software developing eras in the 20th century
have either 1) recruited employees with previous experiences from the defense and telecom
sectors or from ICT consulting, or 2) used ICT consultants. In our cases the development of the
new digital electronics started with few employed engineers in an experimental and often
successful phase. In the following expansion phase the interviewed companies used consultants
with telecom or defense backgrounds to improve things like requirement management, testing
strategy, version management, release management and development of tool environments.
Most of the studied organizations started to develop software in the 1990s, and it seems rather
clear that they have reused experiences from the Swedish defense and telecom industries. In one
case – Nibe - automotive experiences was the foundation.
These ICT consultants have not been tied to one specific engineering subsector. Instead they
have moved between customers in various subsectors, bringing with them their new and
accumulated experiences. This means that engineering companies in one industry have been
able to benefit from competence and experience developed in other firms in different industries,
through the mobility and competence diffusion of ICT consultants. A conclusion is, thus, that
thanks to the externalization of R&D in the first wave, the competence did not get locked in.
It seems that the Swedish system developing companies have been – perhaps unexpectedly or
unusually - indifferent to the fact that the newly acquired competence of a specific consultant or
consultancy firm may be used for the benefit of another engineering company. In the study we
have found that competence in the field of lithium batteries is shared between Electroulx and
ACTA. Also, Maquet have used competence acquired from both the defense industry and
ACTA. One explanation is that the engineering firms are not direct competitors: In fact, there is
often only one firm in each sub-segment in this small country. Another important factor is that
the R&D related ICT consultants in Sweden often have been – and to a large extent still are –
Swedish owned and focused on a domestic customer base. They have thus not turned to foreign
customers that directly compete with their Swedish ones. The de facto openness – on the side of
the engineering firms as well as from the R&D related ICT consultancies - could possibly be
contributing to the individual success of the many branches of Swedish engineering companies.
Such a flexible ecosystem would be an advantage for the Swedish export industry.
Early, demanding customers
All of the studied companies started out in a playful experimental phase where engineers simply
evaluated new digital electronics in their own specific applications. In some cases the endcustomers were subjects for new regulations that created a demand for new technology. This
was true for ACTA whose customers started to demand proof-of-quality information linked to
each of the systems operations, and for Scania that was forced to meet new regulatory demands
in terms of reduced emissions of hydrocarbons.
The benefit of challenging and early customers is made clear from the cases. Several of the
studied companies with business-to-business operations started their microcontroller based
198
product development together with some important initial customers. These customers have
been demanding but also keen on getting a system delivery with the benefits of the new
technology. This was exemplified in the cases of ACTA’s Tensor system as well as the Scania’s
APC system for Saab Automobile. These early customer helped the companies to finalize
prototype like products by fine-tuning them in factories and assembled systems.
The engineers at the product development companies had the benefit of outfitting their products
in the actual environments where they would eventually operate at an early stage.
199
15 Emergence of an ICT-based
disruptive mobile payment service
Niklas Arvidsson
The chapter scrutinizes the emergence of mobile payment services in Sweden. The case
illustrates how the Swedish model of corporatist society development has formed retail
banking and enabled Swedish banks to become proficient and early adopters of advanced
ICT-systems, leading to internationally competitive financial services.
15.1
Introduction
Cash-based payment services are in 2015 still important in many markets in the world, but
Sweden is a different story where the use of cash is low and also reducing rapidly 185. There are
many reasons behind this such as a tradition of electronic payment services, efforts by unions in
Sweden to reduce the risk of work related robberies in cash-intensive industries, the interest
among banks to supply new services as well as the willingness of consumers to adopt new
payment services 186. If cash were to be replaced by electronic services, one may argue that
banking has become 100 percent digitalized.
The introduction of the mobile payment service Swish in Sweden is a case where an ICT-based
payment service substitutes a paper-based payment service – cash – and thus speeds the process
potentially making Sweden one of the first more or less cashless societies in the world. The case
illustrates how the Swedish model of corporatist society development, e.g. in the form of
development via mutually beneficial cooperation between governmental and commercial
actors 187, has formed retail banking. Due to the nature of banking, however, development builds
in a network of actors rather than via developing couples as has been the case in other
industries. The corporatist society model has allowed and enabled Swedish banks to become
proficient and early adopters of advanced ICT-systems, leading to internationally competitive
financial services. And, this transition of banking would not have been possible without highly
skilled ICT-companies.
Digitalization of banking implies that the essence of banking becomes (if it not already is) a
matter of combining banking expertise, an ability to meet regulatory demands, and ICT-skills.
In addition, digitalization creates a need to handle new competition from actors in sectors as
social media or telecom as well as from new ventures supplying banking and finance services.
The chapter first discusses the history of cooperation between banks, governmental actors, and
how this has enabled retail banks to be in the forefront of automation for more than 50 years.
185
Sveriges Riksbank, 2014
Arvidsson, 2013
187 As discussed in chapter 1 in this report.
186
200
We then turn to Swish, which is a globally unique payment service developed through
cooperation between retail banks and the central bank. We conclude by outlining how banks
simultaneously cooperate and compete in relation to Swish. Last, the chapter pin-points the
most critical factors of success behind the development of Swish.
15.2 ICT in retail banking in Sweden – The historic
development
Development in Sweden
There is a long tradition of cooperation between banks in Sweden with the ambition to create
banking infrastructure and services that can be shared by several banks even if the banks in the
end compete in their ambitions to sell financial services. This cooperation has also involved
regulatory actors such as the central bank 188 and the financial supervisory authority, 189 and
thereby making it extend beyond business-oriented companies to also involve representatives of
the state in the form of financial market authorities. Cooperation has therefore not only enabled
infrastructures realizing network externalities between businesses but also leading to a fit and
harmony between regulatory frameworks and business operations.
This tradition of cooperation led Swedish banks to be early adopters of computer technologies
or ICT-solutions with the savings bank in Sweden as one particular example. 190 There are also
other examples such as commercial banks’ development of ICT-systems in collaboration with
primarily companies from the manufacturing industry with examples such as videotext systems
for transfer of information on financial markets, and cooperation between banks to develop
automated banking services via the telephone system or Internet banking services These efforts
illustrates how the financial industry in general and retail banking in particular builds on
developing infra-structure that can be shared by many banks in order to not only share
investment costs but also – and more importantly – to realize network externalities 191 based on
high inter-operability 192. Other historic examples include the creation of data processing
facilities operated by a shared corporation called Spadab 193 built by Swedish savings banks in
the mid-1900s 194 and in the creation of the giro system in 1959 – Bankgirot – for inter-bank
transactions and processing via an open and shared system and thereby sharing development
costs, realizing economies of scale in use and securing a high level of security 195.
188
Sveriges Riksbank (www.riksbank.se)
Finansinspektionen (www.fi.se)
190 Maix´-Altés, 2014
191 One key feature of retail payment services that become successful is that they are characterized positive
externalities. A positive consumption externality (or network externality) signifies the fact that the value of a unit of
the good increases with the number of units sold. The key reason for the appearance of network externalities is the
complementarity between the components of a network. See Economides (1996).
192 By inter-operability we mean an infrastructure where many actors on both sides of a transaction, for instance both
many payers as well as many payees, can and are willing to connect to and use the system. The term is often used for
payment services and is another term for stating that there are strong network externalities in the system.
193 Sparbankernas Datacentral AB - SPADAB
194 Maix´-Altés, 2014
195 From Bankgirot’s web site: https://www.bankgirot.se/om-bankgirot/press-och-aktuellt/bankgirots-historia/
189
201
A similar story explains the creation of the Swedish ATM-system. The cooperation between
savings banks in Sweden started in the formation of the savings banks association196 in 1900 197.
This collaboration was intensified in the 1920s in terms of, for instance, coordinating purchases
of material for retail banks. In the 1960s the savings banks met new competition and faced
growing administration costs but as technologies for automated service had been developed,
they decided to join forces to develop and launch automated teller machines services in Sweden.
This cooperation was manifested in Spadab and led to development of punched card readers and
computerization of book-keeping which initiated the use of computers in these banks. The
banks’ interest in automated teller machines led them to contact Metior – a company in the
Tetra Pak Group – that had developed automated petrol pumps and coin sorting machines. All
in all, collaboration between savings banks made them able to launch the first automated teller
machine in Uppsala, Sweden, on July 6, 1967. After some initial problems, the use of ATMs
grew during the 1970s in Sweden and in other parts of the world, where Metior became an
important exporter of such machines from Sweden. The savings banks continued to be in the
fore-front of developing ATMs to curb fraud and increase efficiency in their branded machines
called Minuten.
The corporatist society process is further illustrated by how systems for payments of wages and
salaries in Sweden were developed. In the 1960s a radical change of payments of salaries and
wages to workers and staff was implemented which became an important part of the
digitalization of the retail banking sector. Banks were automating their services and building
their IT-systems which significantly increased their capacity of handling transactions. This, on
the other hand, meant that retail banks could receive and also were in need of new customers.
Companies, on the other hand, were offered a new and more efficient way of handling payment
to employees. The initial reactions from unions and employees were mixed and in the end the
unions were afraid that wages and salaries would be hurt by service fees from the banks. They
were therefore able to realize their demand that banks should not put service fees to workers that
want to access their wage or salary via their bank account. This is still today a dominating
feature of the Swedish cash-handling system – consumers generally do not pay banks fees for
using cash or ATMs 198. All in all, the digitalization of wage and salary payments, which laid
the foundation for the high number of personal bank accounts in Sweden, was realized through
collaboration between companies, unions and banks. This digitalization, in turn, was essential
for the launch of card payment services in the 1990s 199 and mobile payment services today.
The corporatist society features in relation to the development of Swish are seen in how actions
to reduce cash in the Swedish society have been formed. The unions became an important force
in the ban of cash in public transportation in the end of the first decade of the 21st century. As
the number of robberies of bus drivers in public transportation increased, the unions started to
push the question of no longer allowing cash as a form of payment on buses from a work
196
Svenska Sparbanksföreninngen
This section draws heavily on Batiz-Lazo et al, 2009.
198 During the last decade there are many examples of how banks and other actors put fees on cash-handling such as
fees for ATM-withdrawals or administrative fees for cash-handling services.
199 Arvidsson, 2013
197
202
environment perspective 200. They simply wanted to reduce – or ideally eliminate – the risk of
this form of crimes and violence towards their employees. And they succeeded. Unions in
banking worked in the same direction as the number of bank robberies increased in the latter
part of the 2000s. In addition, banks did not have direct revenues connected to cash which
meant that their business interest was well aligned with the unions’ interests. All in all, there
was cooperation between unions and banks to reduce cash in Sweden. And mobile payment
services became an important tool for achieving this.
Our main focus in this chapter – the development of Swish – is the most recent example of bank
cooperation leading to a shared infrastructure and thereby realizing network externalities and
inter-operability in the form of a globally unique and disruptive innovation called Swish.
15.3
Swish – The emergence of a disruptive mobile payment
service in Sweden
Retail payment services
The central role of retail payments is the task to create secure and cost-efficient payments 201 or
financial transactions 202, i.e. “to guarantee the settlement of a claimed balance between the
buyer and the seller with a minimal use of financial resources and minimal risk exposure
necessary to process the transaction” 203. In this text we focus on banks and their supply of one
particular mobile payment service - Swish. Cash has been the dominating payment service in
Sweden – and the world – during the last millennium but electronic payment services –
electronic transfers, card-based payments and giro transaction – has risen in importance during
the last 50 years and we have seen – at least in Sweden – a decline of cash payments especially
the last 5 years 204. In 2015 we see a rapid decline in the use of cash as innovative payment
services – such as Swish – has become a direct substitute to cash payments in situations where
cash historically used to be the only alternative, e.g. payments between friends or in situations
where electronic payment services did not function.
The story of Swish starts in the first decade of the 21st century in the form of intensified efforts
by banks, telecom operators and other providers of IT-based financial services to create mobile
payment services. Factors as problems with cash-handling 205, technological development both
in processing as well as consumer products, and competition between banks and telecom
operators as well as consumers’ increased interest led to efforts to launch mobile payment
services in the first decade of the 21st century 206.
200
Arvidsson, 2013
Retail payments play the role of transferring a certain amount of money from the payer to the payee. The payment
system primarily includes actors as banks, payment service providers (e.g. related to cash, cards, and electronic
payments) and telecom operators. Then there are other actors such as those receiving and making payments as well as
suppliers of hardware and software. In addition, the central bank – Sveriges Riksbank - and the regulatory agency –
Finansinspektionen – play critical roles in thus system.
202 Sveriges Riksbank, 2014
203 Willesson, 2007:12
204 Arvidsson, 2013
205 Svensk kontanthantering, 2014
206 See e.g. Sveriges Riksbank, 2015; Sveriges Riksbank, 2013; Arvidsson, 2013; Arvidsson, 2014
201
203
The developers of payment services for retail payments in Sweden in 2010 were debating which
kind of technological infrastructures it would use. Should mobile payment be based on the card
infrastructure where a mobile app replaced the traditional credit or debit card but where the
processing, clearing and settlement was done in the same way as for a traditional card payment?
Would the mobility aspect be realized via NFC, QR codes or Bluetooth? Would the
identification and security features be based on the SIM-card or could the cloud be used? Was
the underlying account storing money to be a traditional bank account, a card or a new form of
account in a mobile wallet? The questions were many and the implications for each actor were
of course different depending on which answers that were given.
There were also new strategic choices that had to be made. The tradition in the payment
industry was that the use of cash was not charged directly to the consumer 207. Cash services
were basically just costs for the banks. Card payments, on the other hand, were charged via
annual fees and perhaps other charges such as interest and credit fees to consumers as well as
via contractual fees and transaction fees to payment receivers such as merchants 208. This meant
that banks could see a potential in just replacing cash services with some sort of electronic
service that could lead to a situation where they could reduce costs and perhaps also increase
revenues at the same time. Telecom operators, on the other hand, needed to realize new
revenues from mobile payment services if they were to benefit from these initiatives. There
were also several entrepreneurial firms such as Seamless, Izettle, Payair, Payer, Klarna,
PaybyBill, Payson, Collector and Payex 209 that put pressure on banks to renew their services in
order to maintain a strong position in the area of payments. One question that got the bankers’
interest was if payment services could be priced through a transaction fee to consumers – a setup that would be truly innovative.
The history seemed to have made the banks convinced that they must create a solution were the
telecom operators do not have a strong position and influence. And, the banks must do this
jointly with all the other, major banks. In addition, if the banks have a potential of saving costs
by replacing cash payments with mobile payments, the solution must have features that are
similar to those of cash, i.e. the transfer of value should be immediate. The features of such a
service will demand innovation of disruptive kind, i.e. that innovation “create potential for new
value proposition i.e. different dimensions of performance” 210. The essence of disruptive
innovation is consequently that they fundamentally change the market in terms of creating new
dimensions of performance and competition.
15.4 Launching Swish
In early 2012 the banks – via their jointly owned clearing and settlement processor called
Bankgirot – start to communicate that they are developing a new mobile payment service that
will be very innovative. One of the main innovative features will be speed with which money is
207
Arvidsson, 2013
Arvidsson, 2013
209 There has of course also entered new actors since 2013 while some at the same time have disappeared. This list is
based on Sveriges Riksbank, 2013: 53.
210 Christensen, 1977; see also Christensen & Raynor, 2003
208
204
transferred from the payers’ account to the payee’s account. This is in fact a critical feature if
the service is to replace cash where the value is transferred the moment a bill or coin leaves the
payers’ hand and reaches the payee’s hand. The new service must have a similar feature and the
idea of real-time settlement – which was not new as such – became a key feature of the efforts
to launch a new service. The CEO of Bankgirot Birgitta Simonsson writes in the annual report
for 2011 that they will launch real-time settlement in their new mobile payment services that is
to be launched in 2012. The reasons behind this initiative are the strong use of mobile handsets,
a great number of mobile apps, generally good access to Internet services, an increased demand
for rapid payments, a societal desire to reduce the amount of cash in the society, and the new
type of competition from new actors in the mobile payment service industry. It was evident that
the move by the telecom operators to launch WyWallet 211 put pressure on the banks to launch
their service. Interestingly, the ambition to realize rapid payments led to a new challenge: the
banks were forced to develop the service through cooperating with Sveriges Riksbank – the
Swedish Central bank. The reason being that the Swedish central system for processing,
clearing and settlement of payments – the RIX system - simply did not allow real-time
settlement at this time. If real-time settlement of transfers between different banks were to be
made in real-time, the infrastructure for clearing and settlement provided by Sveriges Riksbank
had to be changed. The development of Swish was therefore dependent on collaboration
between Bankgirot and Sveriges Riksbank to develop a new – and highly innovative –
infrastructure for handling a mobile payment service with real-time settlement 212. And this
meant that the collaboration had to extend beyond the commercial actors in the form of banks to
also include the central bank. To solve this challenge, Sveriges Riksbank granted Bankgirot the
task and responsibility to handle real-time settlement for Swish payments in the RIX-system.
On December 12, 2012, at 00:12, the new mobile payment Swish is launched in the Swedish
market by the six banks Swedbank and the savings banks, Danske Bank, Handelsbanken,
Länsförsäkringar Bank, Nordea and SEB.
211 WyWallet is the shared platform for wallets that were developed jointly by four Swedish telecom operators –
Telia, Tre, Telenor and Tele2.
212 Bankgirot has developed Payments in Real-time (Betalningar i realtid - BiR) which is a payment system that
enables clearing and settlement 24 hours per day, all around the year between the participators in the system. The
clearing and settlement is done via accounts that are administrated by Bankgirot and where the balances are
guaranteed by a corresponding balance in the RIX system. Processing, clearing and settlement are done in real-time
even when the payers and payees have different banks. The system is open 24 hours per day on 365 days per year
which enables payment handling even when RIX is closed. Similar systems are developed in other countries but the
uniqueness with BIR is the clearing and settlement in real-time which means that the risk that the payer will not pay
does not exist anymore. Swish was the first payment service that was based on BIR, where one of the possible results
could be that cash payments are replaced by Swish payments.
205
Figure 15.1: The basic components of Swish
Source: Bankgirot
One of the ambitions behind Swish was to disrupt the payment service industry in Sweden by
introducing transaction fees directly charged to consumers when they made a payment. This was
truly disruptive as consumers previously had not paid direct transaction fees for payments. It
seemed like the banks wanted to try a totally different approach to fees and thereby monetizing
payment transactions that historically had been paid via indirect annual fees or even crosssubsidized via fees from other payment services such as card payment services. Now the banks
wanted to change this and each bank introduced their own ambitions for how to realize a new
business model. When Swish was launched several of the participating banks announced that
the first six months would be free but that transaction fees of around 1 – 1.5 SEK were to be
introduced by July 1, 2013. One bank also announced they would have a monthly fee of 5 SEK
for the customers using the service. However, when June 2013 came, the banks stepped down
from this ambition. The introduction of transaction fees were moved to January 1, 2014, for
some banks while other banks just said they would introduce transaction fees in the future –
without specifying when. In the fall of 2015, none of the banks have introduced transaction fees
for consumers when they use Swish. The users are deemed to still not be ready for such a
disruptive feature.
In late 2014 and first part of 2015 Swish has proved itself in many respects. The number of
registered users as well as the volume and value of transaction have increased significantly. In
December 2013, there were 700 000 registered users of Swish and payments with a value of
over 1.5 billion SEK was made during the first year of the service 213. In December 2013,
clearing and settlement handling in real-time showed strong results with an accessibility of
213
GetSwish AB, 2014
206
99.95 percent 214. According to the same source, Swish broke a new record on December 23,
2013, with 29 658 payments in one day. More than three million Swish transactions with a
value of more than 2 billion SEK were done in 2013, and more than 700 000 new users were
registered. In August 2015, Swish transactions with a value of 4 061 290 650 SEK was done;
there was an inflow of registered users of 198 510 making the total number of registered users
in August, 2015, to be 3 305 336 215.
15.5 Swish – a platform based on collaboration and
competition
The way banks simultaneously collaborated and competed in order to develop Swish is a
modern example of corporatist society cooperation. Swish was realized due to an intricate
collaboration between Bankgirot – a representative of banks – and Sveriges Riksbank. This
collaboration illustrates how the tradition of a corporatist society 216 was used to develop a truly
disruptive and successful innovation in the markets for mobile payment services. Swish is at the
same time an illustration of how co-opetition 217, i.e. simultaneous cooperation and competition,
is a critical factors in industries characterized by strong network externalities. As seen in
another study 218, there are several areas where the banks collaborated but some in which they set
up a framework for competition (table 15.1).
Table 15.1: Areas of collaboration and competition in relation to Swish
CO-OPETITION IN THE CASE OF SWISH
AREAS OF COLLABORATION
AREAS OF COMPETITION
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT 219 (BIR, MOBILE
BANKID, MPC, PMB)
Basic conditions and fees for consumers using Swish
are set by each bank
HANDLING OF REAL-TIME PAYMENTS IN THE RIXSYSTEM TOGETHER WITH SVERIGES RIKSBANK
Marketing and sales campaigns launched by each
individual bank
CREATING THE BRAND NAME SWISH
Special offers
CREATION OF A JOINTLY OWNED COMPANY –
GETSWISH AB – THAT ORGANIZES THE
COOPERATION AND OWNS THE BRAND NAME
Each bank’s communication of the service on their
web sites or other forms of communication
SHARED COMMUNICATION ABOUT THE SERVICE VIA
THE JOINTLY OWNED COMPANY GETSWISH AB
A BUSINESS MODEL WHERE CONSUMERS ARE TO
PAY A TRANSACTION FEE (NOT YET REALIZED)
Source: Maghoub & Arvidsson (2014)
15.6 Summary and conclusions
There is a long tradition of cooperation between banks in Sweden with the ambition to create
infrastructure and services that can be shared by several banks even if the banks in the end
compete in their ambitions to sell financial services. Examples include the development of, for
instance, a giro-system for payment handling and ATM services for cash withdrawals. This
214
Bankgirot, 2014
www.getswish.se
216 Giertz, 2015
217 Bengtsson & Kock, 2000; Brandenburger & Nalebuff, 1996; Gnyawali & Park, 2011
218 Mahgoub & Arvidsson, work in progress
219 See figure 1 above.
215
207
cooperation has also involved regulatory actors such as the central bank and the financial
supervisory authority, and thereby making it extend beyond business-oriented companies to also
involve representatives of the state in the form of financial market authorities.
These efforts have not only enabled infrastructures realizing network externalities between
businesses but also leading to a fit and harmony between regulatory frameworks and business
operations. The history of banking is a case of how a corporatist society has allowed and
enabled Swedish banks to become proficient and early adopters of advanced ICT-systems
leading to internationally competitive financial services. This is seen in the development of
ATMs, wages and salaries being paid directly to electronic bank accounts instead of in cash, the
giro system, telephone banking and Internet banking. Swish is an example of how a globally
unique innovation was created in the tradition of a corporatist society in banking.
It can be concluded that even if there often are complaints on the lack of competition in the
Swedish banking sector, collaboration between banks is a pre-requisite for developing
innovative services in an ICT-dominated industry. The collaboration with governmental
agencies was another critical success factor in the development of Swish.
So, driven by factors as: an increased societal interest in reducing cash payments in Sweden;
pressures from ICT-skilled competitors primarily from the telecom sector, social media but also
from potential new entrants in the payment service industry; technological advances both related
to processing of transactions in large ICT-systems and to how consumers access Internet via
smart phones; ambitions to reduce the use of cash in Sweden; and ambitions to take banking
into the 21st on-line society; banks decided to develop an innovative and disruptive mobile
payment service called Swish. On December 12, 2012, at 00:12, the new mobile payment Swish
was launched in the Swedish market by the six banks. Swish is a disruptive innovation in the
mobile payment service industry that has succeeded in creating an interoperable service for the
Swedish market, and this chapter has told the story of how this service was developed.
208
16 Conclusions & implications
Annika Rickne, Eric Giertz and Petri Rouvinen
The aim of this report is to understand the historic development of the ICT sectors in
Finland and Sweden, and to scrutinize the mechanisms behind the major success stories.
We have been interested in understanding not only the history but also the current
position for the ICT sectors for these small but leading economies. In this final chapter we
first summarize the previous chapters and then provide some points for further
discussion.
16.1 Summarizing our findings
The first chapter – ‘Finland and Sweden – Small, knowledge intensive nations’ – sets the scene
for comparing ICT provision and use in Finland and in Sweden. We observe many similarities
but also considerable, and somewhat surprising, differences between the two countries. The
Nordic countries have a great legacy both as leading ICT providers and as the world’s foremost
knowledge economies. While Finland and Sweden has been changed on both fronts, there are
good reasons to believe that the Nordic success in ICT will continue in the future.
The chapter ‘Dynamics of the global telecom sector – the telecom equipment supplier industry’
analyzes the transformation of the global telecom equipment supplier industry; from the
nationally oriented “PTT regime” (dominated by national telephone monopolies supplemented
by primarily domestic suppliers) of the 1980s to the globally competitive industry of today
(2015). A number of pervasive trends and major events have affected the sector: service
expansion and growth in particular mobile and datacoms (Internet); rapid technological
progress, in particular; digitalization, and the resulting convergence (of telecom, IT, software,
media, etc.); the changing role of standardization and R&D regimes, liberalization, and the
resulting changing industrial structure. In this process of turbulent change, almost none the
leading players in the 1980s remain as independent entities – Ericsson being one prime
exception, with former competitors having been acquired, merged, or gone bankrupt. Many
companies have disappeared (e.g. ITT and Nortel). The rise of mobile allowed some companies
to enter and establish leading positions (Nokia, Motorola), but did not manage to survive as
major players (e.g. Motorola), while others merged or were acquired (Alcatel-Lucent, Siemens).
Following from the widespread diffusion of the Internet and globalization, some new entrants
have risen to global leadership (e.g. Huawei from China and Cisco from the US).
Chapter 3 compares the Finnish and the Swedish ICT sectors. In both Finland and Sweden, the
ICT sector’s accounts for 5–6% of GDP and 3–4% of total working hours. Since Sweden is a
larger economy than Finland, its ICT sector has about twice as many workers. Software and
services is the biggest ICT sub-sector in both countries. The most apparent structural difference
relates to ICT consulting, which in Sweden is over one-fourth and in Finland under one-tenth of
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ICT employment. The Swedish ICT sector appears more diverse and more dynamic than its
Finnish counterpart.
Chapter 4 considers the historical evolution of the Finnish ICT sector. National regulation,
policies, and even politics, played a crucial role in the early history of the Finnish ICT sector.
Subsequently Nordic, European, and ultimately global developments grew more important. The
move from analog to digital technology in mobile telecommunications – that coincided with
worldwide de-regulation and liberalization of telecom operation – was Finland’s big break into
the global ICT markets, which was capitalized handsomely. Following this, chapter 6 reviews
the current Finnish ICT sector, which has experienced exceptional turmoil since the 2008
financial crisis. Nokia’s downsizing is what first meets the eye and without Nokia the sectors
employment in Finland would have remained about the same. There has been a wave of mergers
and acquisitions – in particularly Tieto Group has been heavily molded. ICT in Finland has
grown more international and has become more consolidated.
Chapters 5 and 7 outline the historic development of Sweden and its current position, which
helps us understand where Sweden comes from, where it is today, and perhaps where it is
heading. The chapter ‘Understanding the Swedish saga through an historical exposé’ illustrated
how liberal reforms in the mid-1800s initiated a belated but rapid industrialization in Sweden.
Sweden also took the lead in telecommunication through the establishment of hundreds of
private telephone networks, who bought products from the new venture Ericsson. After World
War I many companies went into liquidation or bankruptcy and the ownership of Swedish
industry was transferred to less than a dozen financial spheres. In parallel government
strengthened its grip over the infrastructure and the governmental agency Televerket acquired
all private telephone networks. The consolidation laid the foundation to a corporatist society,
with a very close cooperation between government, incumbents and trade unions. There also
was an extremely close cooperation between governmental agencies like Televerket and private
corporations like Ericsson in what was named developing couples. Incumbents also set the
agenda for higher education in engineering sciences and applied research. Incumbents in general
and Ericsson in particular were very successful on the export markets thanks to early adoption
on the domestic market. But in the late 1900s large corporations went into trouble and could no
longer fully support the welfare society that had been shaped. In parallel infra services were
deregulated and borders between countries were tore down. Sweden also became a member in
the European Union and had to adapt to new rules and regulations. This called for new ventures
and entrepreneurship. Sweden has been extremely successful in forming an expanding ICT
sector characterized by structural changes, sectorial shifts and great dynamics.
‘The Swedish ICT sector today’ is a study of the of the ICT sector in Sweden. It divides the ICT
sector into business logic sectors that are not present in traditional statistics. The resulting
picture provides a significantly better position to understand the composition and development
of the ICT sector in Sweden. The ICT sector in Sweden is in itself a rapidly growing sector of
the Swedish economy. The study involves a total number of 2,729 companies with 132,142
employees distributed over 4,233 different locations around Sweden. They are spread all over
the country but the concentration to the Stockholm area is remarkably high. Software and
service companies dominate. Less than one quarter of the employees is employed in a hardware
210
company among which Ericsson still occupies a very dominant position. The number of
employees working in companies delivering different kinds of software and services are divided
almost equally on three different segments; Software & Net Services, IT operations &
Maintenance respectively ICT Consultants. The ICT sector is characterized by great dynamics,
and many companies have been acquired by domestic or foreign corporations. Indeed, during
the period 2007-2011, the number of employees belonging to foreign-owned companies
increased from some 40,000 employees to reach almost 50,000.
Given the good performance of the subsector of gaming in both countries we scrutinized this
industry in two chapters. The chapter on the Nordic gaming (chapter 8), includes brief accounts
of the origins and history of the industry in the different countries. It also mentions the key
companies and their role in shaping the industry we see today. Sweden and Finland are the main
video game exporters in Scandinavia. The balance was originally that the Swedish industry was
about twice the size of the Finish in terms of aggregated revenues. However, recently
tremendous growth in Finland has led to a shift in leadership, where Finland is now the bigger
player. The Finnish industry’s revenue is extremely dominated by Supercell with mobile game
hit titles like “Clash of Clans” and “Hay Day”. The Swedish industry is also quite concentrated,
but there are more large firms and a much greater share of revenues coming from console and
PC games.
The following chapter explains the Scandinavian success in video game development that have
been observed and acknowledged in international media. It focuses on ‘The Swedish game
development sector’ and the link between domestic circumstances contributing to a strong
innovation system that supports achievement within industry key success factors. While the data
and analysis specifically concerns Sweden, many of the circumstances and industry formation
process are similar to the other Scandinavian countries. A major source of competitive
advantage appears to be the competence and networks in the industry, resulting from previous
success. These become a general asset, especially for start-ups, because of the pronounced
tradition of sharing and helping that characterize the industry culture. On the negative side,
hampering the establishment and growth in the industry, are bureaucracy, taxes, and lack of
government support, especially compared to competing nations like Finland and Canada. It is
also difficult for game developers to attract significant capital from other sources than the
publishers.
In order to understand the changing industry structures and the role of various types of firms,
chapter 10 discusses mergers and acquisitions in the Swedish software and services industry.
During the first decade of the 21st century, the Swedish ICT software and services sector
developed from a pioneering state of wide-eyed enthusiasm via abrupt adjustments of
expectations into a major business sector and an important part of the Swedish economy.
Industrial consolidation through mergers and acquisitions played several important roles in this
process. As a means of expansion, M&As allowed for greater scale economies. As a channel for
less effective firms to be absorbed by more efficient competitors without total loss of
operational assets, M&As constituted a force of creative destruction parallel to the mechanism
of exit through bankruptcy. Drawing on new empirical evidence, we argue that M&As also
provided new impulses and opportunities for entrepreneurship and stimulated between-firm job
211
mobility of key persons in the sector. We conclude that the intensive M&A activity of the
period contributed to renewal and growth of the ICT software and services industry at large, but
did not lead to the creation of new Swedish-based multinationals in the sector.
In a discussion on the ‘Swedish entrepreneurial firms and ICT hotspots’ we take the perspective
of startup companies in the Swedish ICT sector and looks at what positive sides or drawbacks
there are being located in Sweden as compared to one of the major ICT hubs in the world:
California (chapter 11). Sweden has an international reputation as a highly ICT productive
environment, and especially, Stockholm is seen as a major hotspot for ICT. The interviewed
firms are all in agreement that for software and hardware development, Sweden and Stockholm
is one of the most favorable locations to be situated at globally. The labor force of engineers is
highly educated and experienced, work efficiently and performs at high standards. As the ICT
sector and ICT development in general is flourishing in Sweden, there is however a shortage of
programmers, system developers, etc. What Silicon Valley can offer in terms of competence is
highly experienced top managers, growth experts and financial officers, and competent capital.
Likewise, there is a plenitude of role models to lean on: companies who have already been
down the same roads and can give guidance. Most importantly, this is where there is a large
market, in terms of end users as well as businesses.
In chapter 12 we focus on a specific segment within the ICT sector, namely ICT consultancy
companies in Sweden focused on developing embedded systems and other ICT solutions
intended for their customers´ products or manufacturing systems. These firms in essence
function as external research and development department for their clients, and are a vehicle
through which other sectors in the Swedish economy have been able to adopt ICT related
changes and develop own innovations. Indeed, Sweden has a very large ICT consultancy
segment. There are in total more than 80,000 employees working with ICT development in
Swedish consultancy companies. The lion share of both the companies and the employees
primarily offer services related to commercial and management software solutions. This chapter
however focuses on a sub-segment, namely ICT consultancy companies focused on developing
embedded systems in their customers´ products or production systems. In total there are more
than 16, 000 employees working with R&D related ICT development of this kind. The R&D
related consultancy segment bear some similarities to its more generic sibling but it is of a more
strategic interest to their customers. It was born when the telecom and defense industries were
introducing a disruptive technology into their products. The consultants then worked at the very
frontier of knowledge. Through the externalization of product development this experience and
competence also became available for other companies, for example large engineering
incumbents and banking industry, when they introduced embedded systems into their products
and ICT into their production systems.
While the ICT sector in and of itself is large and vibrant, ICT as a pervasive technology sifts
into and influences or even revolutionizes most sectors of the economy. Chapter 13 gives an
overview of how ICT permeates a number of industries, and especially discusses the important
current trends of big data, Internet of things and cloud computing. A survey to Finnish firms in
a variety of subsectors illustrates how managers perceive and plans the importance of these
tendencies on their own business. While the ICT sector in and of itself is large and vibrant, ICT
212
as a pervasive technology sifts into and influences or even revolutionizes most sectors of the
economy.
Observing the change process from the point of view of the engineering industry, the next
chapter illustrated how large, well-established firms have handled technological shifts. Large
Swedish incumbents in the engineering industry have successfully introduced embedded
systems into their complex products. They often seem to have mastered the introduction of a
new and disruptive technology better than their foreign competitors. They have survived and
gained market shares when their industry has been challenged and consolidated. Corporations
who have coped with the transformation seem to have two things in common. They have
worked closely together with demanding customers on very tough time schedules and they have
been benefitting from the available expertise on the Swedish domestic market. They have
employed people and/or hired consultants with previous experience from telecom, defense or
automotive industry in Sweden. The authors argue that the externalization of R&D related
competence concerning embedded systems and Internet of things has been a competitive
advantage for Swedish engineering industry.
A final look on how ICT may influence our society is presented in chapter 15. The study of
‘Emergence of an ICT based disruptive mobile payment service’ discusses how ICT has
transformed the banking sector. There is a long tradition of cooperation between banks and
governmental agencies in Sweden with the ambition to create infrastructure and services that
can be shared by several banks even if the banks in the end compete in their ambitions to sell
services related to savings, lending and payments. This cooperation has not only enabled
infrastructures realizing network externalities between businesses but also a fit between
regulatory frameworks and business operations. Driven by factors as: an interest in reducing
cash payments in Sweden; pressures from ICT-skilled competitors from the telecom sector,
social media and from new entrants; technological advances in processing and consumer
products; ambitions to reduce the use of cash in Sweden; and ambitions to take banking into the
21st on-line society; banks decided to develop a disruptive mobile payment service called Swish.
Swish has succeeded in creating an interoperable service for the Swedish market, and this
chapter tells the story of how this service was developed.
16.2 Discussion
In this concluding section we will highlight a set of issues that we perceive deserves further
attention. Indeed, our extensive scrutiny onto the history, current position and underlying
driving forces of the ICT sectors in Finland and Sweden has teased out some essential lessons.
What we carry with us: Path dependency
By early 1990s, the two national champion companies – Nokia and Ericsson – had soaked up
much of the nationally accumulated expertise in ICT and, with their expansion in the course of
the 1990s; they became dominant forces in their respective home economies by year 2000. 220 If
220
The Nordic ICT scene was vitalized with the development of the Nordic NMT mobile telephony standard since
the late 1970s. Besides Nokia and Ericsson, the NMT players of the mid-1980s included Dancall and Storno in
213
one takes in to account both the direct impact (the value added share) and the indirect impact –
including sub-contracting and partnering –, Nokia constituted well over half of the Finnish ICT
sector and Ericsson was almost as dominant in Sweden. In the 2000s, first Ericsson in Sweden
and then Nokia in Finland became subsequently less important, but the ICT sectors at large
remained vibrant and also the integration of ICT-based solutions into the market offerings in
other sectors evolved. Arguably ICT remains the single most important economic driver of
future growth in the two economies.
Universities, research institutes and firms in both countries were highly competent – and also
early – in understanding, adapting to and developing various technological solutions for the
telecom sector. Moreover, they managed to set practices and standards for the global actors.
While Ericson and Nokia naturally take on leading roles in the economies, the ICT sector and
technological and market shifts go well beyond these sectors.
With the specific industrial structures of Sweden and Finland, this has also meant that various
sectors that have functioned as motors in the countries’ economies in general. ICT
developments in Sweden relate to the automotive and armaments sectors; in Finland, banking
and forestry were important early breeding grounds; in both countries, industrial equipment and
machinery were important. These historical links do not determine future outcomes, but they
nevertheless influence national positions in new domains. This is also true when it comes to IT
adoption, development and diffusion. Thus, the traditional sectors are historically important, but
also highly relevant today. With the emerging internet of things, the interplay of path
dependences and re-deployments of expertise will again influence commercial outcomes.
This is also apparent for understanding the embeddedness of ICT in other sectors. For example,
Sweden’s engineering sector was highly able to incorporate ICT and become global leaders. The
analysis highlights the importance of early on recognizing the characteristics of the
technological shifts, to use competence development and sharing through ICT consultants, and
to set in motion extensive fieldwork with early, dominant customers.
Another aspect of path dependency, what we bring with us into the future, relates to
organizational aspects. Sweden’s traditional corporatist society where policy and large
corporations engaged in joint visions and operational actions, the policy clearly favoured the
accumulation of capital within established companies, and included a governmental interest in
research and higher education. Also, incumbents initiated applied research programs, often cofunded by government, in sectorial research institutes. In essence, there were strong links
between basic research, education, applied research and industry needs. This was combined
with a close cooperation between public customers and individual private corporations. In those
so-called developing couples, engineers and technicians from both companies worked side by
side with research, product development and implementation of new products and systems.
Perhaps the most pronounced development couple was in telecom, involving the cooperation
Denmark and Simonsen in Norway. NMT was a forebear for Finland’s and Sweden’s big break in global provision of
ICT, the ultimately global GSM standard.
214
between the Swedish PTT Televerket and LM Ericsson. Even today, we can see traces of such
organizational solutions as revealed in case of banking in this report.
Dynamics and resilience
Around the year 2000, major global changes came into play with the advanced of, e.g., cloud
computing and mobile internet. What is particularly interesting to us is how, since year 2000,
Finland and Sweden followed rather different trajectories.
From 2000 to 2004, Ericsson reduced its Swedish employment by over 20,000 persons. Via its
external networking and partnering, the company had employed tens of thousands workers in
ICT related development, consulting, maintenance, and research; this segment felt Ericsson’s
misfortunes even more forcefully than its own employment. In early 2000s, a huge volume of
ICT expertise was re-deployed in Sweden. In hindsight it can be said the actors within the sector
re-positioned themselves quite successfully thanks to accumulated expertise, advanced demand,
and – despite the burst of the new economy bubble – still vibrant global market. New venture
activity was particularly intense in internet services and software. Also, ICT consultancies seek
engineering and other ICT using companies as their new customers in developing embedded
ICT systems and deploying ICT services.
Nokia ran into serious difficulties in 2008. Within a few years, Nokia’s troubles lead into a redeployment of ICT expertise in Finland, which in relative terms was quite comparable to the
Swedish turmoil a decade earlier. For Finland, however, three things were different: the second
disruption was now in full bloom, global demand was less vibrant and competition was more
intense, and the bulk of potential domestic customers were not investing into avant-garde ICT
services and solutions.
After being on rather different trajectories in the course of the 2000s, the Finnish and Swedish
ICT sectors are quite similar in relative terms. Currently, Nokia and Ericsson remain nationally
important companies, but not overwhelmingly so.
Sweden has had a form of dynamics and resilience to the necessary change process that Finland
has not had to the same extent. Now in this disruptive phase this proves crucial.
A cluster: an environment conducive for innovation
We know from the literature and from numerous examples of vibrant regions and IT hotspots
where Silicon Valley is the prime example, that agglomeration of actors and resources to what
one may call a critical mass, as well as cluster formation, are crucial. It is also important to have
a diversity of different types of actors along the value chain, as well as in various subsectors.
Moreover, small and large firms interact and reinforce one another, and sometimes take on
different roles in development process or in specific maturity phase of an industry segment.
Furthermore, the business sector interacts with university groups and institutes and other types
of actors in their innovation processes.
Both countries are ranked high among the global leaders and seen as good innovation milieus.
The question here is how to further develop the countries – and the city hotspots within them –
to not only retain but to strengthen their global competitiveness. In this vein, we note that
215
Sweden is indeed the larger country and also more diverse. This had ramification when it comes
to how the economy in large handled the shift. Nowadays software is the largest ICT sub-sector
in both countries in terms of employment. Even so, since Sweden is a bigger economy than
Finland, its ICT sector is also larger: The sector in Sweden has about twice as workers as in
Finland and nearly six times as many companies. The most apparent difference between the two
countries relates to ICT consulting, which in Sweden accounts for over one-fourth and in
Finland under one-tenth of overall ICT employment.
Our comparison of the Finnish and Swedish ICT sub-sectors by firm age and size as well as our
analysis of the sector’s “creative destruction” – in terms of entries, exits, and differences in
growth rates among continuing businesses – suggests that the Swedish ICT sector is more
diverse and more dynamic than its Finnish counterpart. In both countries we see a history where
incumbents functioned as motors for the ICT economy. But today, when these firms have taken
on a different global position and role, the industrial landscapes have – and still are – changing.
It is important for both countries to find a way to deal with this.
One way to think about the altering knowledge bases and industrial landscapes is to discuss the
actors, their connectiveness and formation of competence and actors clusters. So a multitude
and variety of actors need to be present, and competence in specialized and general areas.
As regards research institutes and technical universities both countries are well endowed.
Private companies have all along collected fruits of publicly funded research in university and
research institutes; at the least they have depended on a steady flow of graduates with deep
expertise in relevant technical domains.
Clearly, governmental units can be instrumental: The ICT sector has all along depended on
intense private-public cooperation in various forms. Many of the key innovations in the sector
can be traced back to public procurement. In virtually all countries, the sector has featured at
least some public monopolies in operation of ICT services and also in providing necessary
equipment by private or public national champion companies. Unlike in Finland and in Sweden,
in most countries all this public affection has ultimately not led to global commercial success in
ICT. In the past, the Nordics have obviously gotten something right in public-private
cooperation and while policy (and politics) has played second fiddle in recent ICT
developments, public action continues to the be central for the ICT sector’s future. Also in the
context of ICT, the longer-term Nordic strength has been sustained emphasis on supporting
education and investments in basic research and applied R&D. While neither is in vogue at the
moment, the have to be part of the Nordic success formula of the future.
It is quite clear that Nordic cooperation in various forms and at various levels has contributed to
the Finnish and Swedish success in ICT. Also outside joint efforts such as the afore-mentioned
NMT standard, there has been active Nordic cooperation with technical assistance and
technology transfers going back and forth across national borders via, e.g., organizations such as
NordForsk and Nordisk industrifond as well as engineering societies and personal connections.
Leading corporations, e.g., Ericsson, Facit, IBM, Nokia, and Norsk Data, spread their R&D
activities across the Nordic countries. Since the early 2000s, the Nordic connection was
216
somehow lost, perhaps in part because Finland and Sweden were on somewhat different
trajectories in their national developments. But now that both national policy and corporate
interests seem quite aligned, hopefully the spirit of Nordic cooperation can be re-discovered.
The entrepreneurial environment is of great importance. We have especially focused on the
gaming sector. Even though its economic importance is still limited, one of the ICT sub-sectors
we look at is electronic gaming – a globally booming industry, in which both Finland and
Sweden has a good foothold. In per capita terms, Finland and Sweden have some of the largest
gaming industries worldwide, although South Korea is the leading national economy in this
respect. South Korea is, however, quite orientated towards its domestic market. According to
the metric we employ, Finland and Sweden have the two most export-oriented gaming
industries in the world. If we concentrate on successful mobile gaming apps, we observe that
Finland has somewhat larger but less diverse footprint than Sweden; the surrounding ecosystem
is more vibrant in Sweden and it is more resilient to any one company’s success or failure.
The business sector has been dwelt on in other parts of this chapter, and we here suffice in
summarizing that there are globally successful companies in software, hardware and services.
Some firms have grown mid-sized and there is much experimenting in smaller, startup firms.
Until the early 2000s, the ICT sectors in Finland and in Sweden were strongly inter-linked and
geographically clusters around a few centers of expertise. Since then, many time-honored links
were broken and reliance on domestic clusters seemed to have weakened due to both
commercial reasons and the second disruption. Obviously, collaborative networks had grown
more global. But a closer look reveals that emerging new ICT sub-sectors, such as electronic
gaming, do feature quite strong inter-organizational linkages and geographical clustering.
National and even city-level conditions and local networks continue to be important.
217
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List of interviews
Ahlström, Tomas, Linköping University, Innovation Adviser, Phone intervju, 2015-06-08.
Albiin, Anton, Swedish Games Industry, Project Manager, 2015-03-17.
Antonsson, Jonas, Raw Fury, Reality Distortionist, Stockholm, 2015-07-03.
Arnroth, Thomas, Journalist, Telephone interview, 2015-03-31.
Bunge-Meyer, Martin, King, Senior PR Manager, Stockholm, 2015-03-20.
Connor, Matthew, Fmod, CEO, Malmö, 2015-05-20.
Della Rocca, Jason, Co-Founder Execution Labs, prv Chairman IGDA, Phone interview, 2015-06-12.
Eriksson, Martin, Tarhead Studios, Creative Director, Skövde, 2015-02-26.
Holmdahl, Ola, Tarsier, CEO, Malmö, 2013-04-13.
Höglund, Per, Raketspel, CEO, Stockholm, 2015-06-12.
Kroon, Jacob, Analyst, Swedish Games Industry, Stockholm, 2015-02-15.
Lindell, Martin, Product Manager, DICE, Stockholm, 2015-03-18.
Linder, Rosie, PeppyPals, CEO, Stockholm, 2015-03-31.
Lundmark, Simon, Pixeldiet, CEO, Stockholm, 2015-04-09.
Johnsson, Andreas, Founder & CTO, Tarsier, Malmö, 2015-04-13.
Johansson, Henrik, Mediocre, Co-Founder, Malmö, 2015-04-13.
Markgren, Lars, King, Co-Founder, Stockholm, 2015-03-20.
Miksche, Mattias, Stardoll, CEO, Stockholm, 2015-05-01.
Pulido, Bibiana, Université de Montréal, Researcher, Malmö, 2015-05-20.
Strömbäck, Per, Spokesperson, Swedish Games Industry, Malmö, 2015-05-20.
Walfisz, Martin, CEO & Founder, Planteo and Massive Entertainment, Malmö, 2015-04-13.
Wass, Marcus, Entrepreneur, Malmö, 2015-05-20.
Westbergh, Anton, Coffee Stain Studio, CEO, Stockholm, 2015-03-20.
Wester, Fredrik, Paradox Interactive, CEO, 2015-03-06.
Wilhelmsson, Ulf, Lecturer, Skövde University, Skövde, 2015-02-26.
Zethreaus, Seebastian, Project Manager, Gone North Games, Stockholm 2015-02-10. (also Project
Manager, Sweden Game Awards, 2014)
225
226
VINNOVA´s publications
October 2015
See vinnova.se for more information
VINNOVA Analysis
VA 2015:
01 Årsbok 2014 - Svenskt deltagande
i europeiska program för forskning &
innovation
02 Samverkansuppgiften i ett
historiskt och institutionellt
perspektiv
VA 2013:
01 Chemical Industry Companies in
Sweden
02 Metallindustrin i Sverige 2007 2011
03 Eco-innovative Measures in large
Swedish Companies - An inventory
based on company reports
03 Långsiktig utveckling av svenska
lärosätens samverkan med det
omgivande samhället - Effekter av
forsknings- och innovationsfinansiärers
insatser
04 Gamla möjligheter - Tillväxten på den
globala marknaden för hälso- och sjukvård
till äldre
04 Företag i Tåg- och
järnvägsbranschen i Sverige 2007-2013
06 Företag inom miljötekniksektorn
2007-2011
05 FoU-program för Små och
Medelstora Företag - Metodologiskt
ramverk för effektanalyser
06 Small and beautiful - The ICT
success of Finland & Sweden
07 National Research and Innovation
Councils as an Instrument
of Innovation Governance Characteristics and challenges
VA 2014:
01 Resultat från 18 VINN Excellence
Center redovisade 2012 Sammanställning av enkätresultaten. (For
English version see VA 2014:02)
02 Results from 18 VINN Excellence
Centres reported in 2012 Compilation of the survey results. (For
Swedish version see VA 2014:01)
03 Global trends with local effects - The
Swedish Life Science Industry 1998-2012
04 Årsbok 2013 - Svenskt deltagande i
europeiska program för forskning och
innovation.
05 Innovations and new technology what is the role of research? Implications
for public policy. (For Swedish version see
VA 2013:13)
06 Hälsoekonomisk effektanalys - av
forskning inom programmet Innovationer
för framtidens hälsa.
07 Sino-Swedish Eco-Innovation
Collaboration - Towards a new
pathway for shared green growth
opportunity.
08 Företag inom svensk massa- och
pappersindustri - 2007-2012
09 Universitets och högskolors
samverkansmönster och dess
effekter
05 Rörliga och kopplade - Mobila
produktionssystem integreras
07 Företag inom informations- och
kommunikationsteknik i Sverige
2007 - 2011
08 Snabbare Cash - Effektiv
kontanthantering är en tillväxtmarknad
09 Den svenska maritima näringen 2007 - 2011
10 Long Term Industrial Impacts of
the Swedish Competence Centres
11 Summary - Long Term Industrial
Impacts of the Swedish
Competence Centres. Brief version of
VA 2013:10
12 Företag inom svensk gruv- och
mineralindustri 2007-2011
13 Innovationer och ny teknik - Vilken
roll spelar forskningen. (For English version
see VA 2014:05)
14 Företag i energibranschen i Sverige
- 2007-2011
15 Sveriges deltagande i sjunde
ramprogrammet för forskning
och teknisk utveckling (FP7) Lägesrapport 2007-2012
16 FP7 and Horizon 2020
VINNOVA Information
VI 2015:
01 Insatser för innovationer
inomHälsa
02 FFI Årsrapport 2014 - Samverkan
för stark svensk fordonsindustri och
miljöanpassade samt säkra transporter
03 Social innovation - Exempel
04 Social innovation
05 Årsredovisning 2014
VI 2014:
01 Tjänsteinnovationer 2007
02 Innovationer som gör skillnad - en
tidning om innovationer inom offentliga
verksamheter
03 Årsredovisning 2013
04 VINNVÄXT - A programme renewing
and mowing Sweden ahead
05 Replaced by VI 2015:01
06 Din kontakt i EU:s forsknings- och
innovationsprogram
07 VINNOVA - Sveriges
innovationsmyndighet. (For English
version see VI 2014:10)
08 Visualisering - inom akademi,
näringsliv och offentlig sektor
09 Projektkatalog Visualisering - inom
akademi, näringsliv och offentlig sektor
10 VINNOVA - Sweden´s Innovation
Agency (For Swedish version see VI
2014:07)
VI 2013:
01 Branschforskningsprogrammet för
skogs- & träindustrin - Projektkatalog
2013
02 Destination Innovation- Inspiration,
fakta och tips från Ungas Innovationskraft
03 Inspirationskatalog Trygghetsbostäder för äldre
04 Challenge-Driven Innovation Societal challenges as a driving force
for increased growth. (For Swedish version
see VI 2012:16)
05 Replaced by VI 2013:14
06 Årsredovisning 2012
07 Trygghetsbostader för äldre - en
kartläggning
08 Äldre entreprenörer med sociala
innovationer för äldre - en pilotstudie
kring en inkubatorverksamhet för äldre
09 Fixartjänster i Sveriges kommuner
- Kartläggning och sanhällsekonomisk
analys. (For brief version see VINNOVA
Information VI 2013:10)
10 Sammanfattning Fixartjänster i
Sveriges kommuner - Kartläggning.
(Brief version of VINNOVA Information
VI 2013:09)
11 Replaced by VI 2014:10
12 Replaced by VI 2013:19
13 När företag och universitet forskar
tillsammans - Långsiktiga industriella
effekter av svenska kompetenscentrum
14 No longer available
15 Handledning - för insatser riktade mot
tjänsteverksamheter och tjänsteinnovation
16 Replaced by VI 2013:22
17 Innovationer på beställning - tidning
om att efterfråga innovationer i offentlig
sektor
18 Replaced by VI 2014:06
VINNOVA Report
VR 2015:
01 Bumpy flying at high altitude? International evaluation of Smart Textiles,
The Biorefinery of the Future and Peak
Innovation
02 From green forest to green
commodity chemicals - Evaluating
the potential for large-scale production in
Sweden for three value chains
03 Innovationstävlingar i Sverige insikter och lärdomar
04 Future Smart Industry - perspektiv på
industriomvandling
05 Det handlar om förändring - Tio år
som följeforskare i Triple Steelix
VR 2014:
19 Arbetar du inom offentlig
sektor och brinner för
innovationsfrågor? - VINNOVA är
Sveriges innovationsmyndigthet och
arbetar för att offentlig sektor ska vara
drivkraft för utveckling och användning av
innovationer
01 Vägar till välfärdsinnovation - Hur
ersättningsmodeller och impact bonds kan
stimulera nytänkande och innovation i
offentlig verksamhet
20 Programöversikt 2014 - Stöd till
forskning och innovation
03 Googlemodellen - Företagsledning för
kontinuerlig innovation i en föränderlig
värld
21 OECDs utvärdering av Sveriges
innovationspolitik - En
sammanställning av OECDs analys och
rekommendationer.
22 Att efterfråga innovation - Tankesätt
och processer
02 Jämställdhet på köpet? Marknadsfeminism, innovation och
normkritik
04 Öppna data 2014 - Nulägesanalys
05 Institute Excellence Centres - IEC
-En utvärdering av programmet
06 The many Faces of Implementation
07 Slututvärdering Innovationsslussar
inom hälso- och sjukvården
VR 2013:
01 Från eldsjälsdrivna innovationer
till innovativa organisationer - Hur
utvecklar vi innovationskraften i offentlig
verksamhet?
02 Second Internationel Evaluation of
the Berzeli Centra Programme
03 Uppfinningars betydelse för Sverige
- Hur kan den svenska innovationskraften
utvecklas och tas tillvara bättre?
04 Innovationsslussar inom hälso- och
sjukvården - Halvtidsutvärdering
05 Utvärdering av branschforskningsprogrammen för läkemedel,
bioteknik och medicinteknik
06 Vad ska man ha ett land till? Matchning av bosättning, arbete och
produktion för tillväxt
07 Diffusion of Organisational
Innovations - Learning from selected
programmes
08 Second Evaluation of VINN
Excellence Centres - BiMaC
Innovation, BIOMATCELL, CESC, Chase,
ECO2, Faste, FunMat, GigaHertz, HELIX,
Hero-m, iPACK, Mobile Life, ProNova,
SAMOT, SuMo & Wingquist
09 Förkommersiell upphandling En handbok för att genomföra FoUupphandlingar
10 Innovativa kommuner Sammanfattning av lärdomar från åtta
kommuner och relevant forskning
11 Design av offentliga tjänster - En
förstudie av designbaserade ansatser
12 Erfarenheter av EU:s
samarbetsprogram - JTI-IKT
(ARTEMIS och ENIAC)
Production: VINNOVA´s Communication Division
October 2015
VINNOVA - strengthening Sweden´s innovativeness
VINNOVA se-101 58 Stockholm Sweden office: Mäster Samuelsgatan 56
+46 (0)8 473 3000 vinnova@vinnova.se vinnova.se